Author's Notes: Maelstrom

**PROLOGUE**

Prepare for basically the only reference to game mechanics
(rank, tokens, and loot) in the entire series, as far as I remember. Despite
being a rewrite (and there being a LOT of similarities between the two stories
that I’ll get into later), this is the only scene that’s basically a redux of a
scene from the original “maelstrom minifigure” story\*.

\*This story was based on an old online game, Lego Universe, which is why there isn't really a lot of... worldbuilding and stuff? I originally posted this on the Lego Message Boards (before they closed), which I consistently reference throughout these notes. If you see me complaining about moderators, I'm talking about the ones for those sight. :P

**CHAPTER ONE: HOSPITALISATION**

Originally, Aaron had been asleep for thirteen MONTHS
instead of thirteen DAYS. I made the change later, because I realised that a
thirteen-month gap would basically screw up any semblance of the timeline I had
planned.

“Skipper”, “Turbo”, and “Suli” are characters that appeared
in the original maelstrom minifigure, based on the accounts that all of my
real-life friends had within the Lego Universe game. Consider it a reference, I
guess. They were cut from the final story because of the inclusion of the
characters that became Pandemonium’s Bane, because even *I* realised that there were only so many characters I could include.

The scar on Aaron’s head is a reference to a scar on my OWN
head, from when I was six and slammed my head into a metal beam while spinning
around on a fireman’s pole. Man, what a day. They didn’t even sew my head back
together or anything, they just used glue.

(Side note: yeesh. Insert “reading ur old writing” meme
here.)

Are these friends the aforementioned Skipper, Turbo, and
Suli? Quite possibly. I never addressed them again because of the plot, but in
retrospect I basically pulled a RWBY. (Which, in writing terms, is never really
a good thing.)

Also, I was *going*
to have Plue and Aaron kiss, but the moderators wouldn’t let me.

**CHAPTER TWO: STATISTICALLY SPEAKING…**

I keep forgetting that Aaron has an entire slew of powers to
draw on, because I always focus on, like, fire, electricity, and lasers. I keep
forgetting that he can do stuff like merge with shadows, teleport, and shoot
webs. Like, come *on*, me.

Is it a plothole that Aaron draws maelstrom off Will, and
yet doesn’t uninfected him later on? I see your scepticism, and raise you the
idea that Aaron could control ambient mist, but not the maelstrom toxins that
end up in Will’s blood. Once its INSIDE someone, they’re basically screwed.
That should be how it works, at least.

Also, yes. I am aware that power organisation is a dumb
thing for Aaron and Will to fall out over. Just imagine that they’re saying
each other’s dialogue, because at least that makes a lot more sense
character-wise.

**CHAPTER THREE: THE**
IRONY CHANNEL

Ah, this makes me wince.

In any case, why the “it’s you”? Well, I wanted to create
some suspense. Is it Aaron? Is it not? Who else can turn into shadows? I think
it was supposed to be the Darkitecht, and Plue just reacted deadpan because how
*else* are you supposed to react to
that? Why does the Darkitecht kidnap her? Why is there a tunnel in her house
leading to the Assembly facility? Why does a television playing Return of the
Jedi pop out of a wall? You got me. Though, for the second queschon, I like to
think that Overbuild just built trapdoors into everyone’s houses in case they
needed quick test subjects or something.

Now, the one question I think I *can* answer is why the Darkitecht cuts off Shadow. Well, as seen in
other stories (and this one), the maelstrom has plenty of horror in store, so
they don’t particularly need him. And the Darkitecht *is* a sadistic bastard. It makes sense for him to force Shadow to do
a bunch of work, only to backstab him mid-job.

What made me come up with the idea for Shadow, I hear you
wonder? A being of black flames, with a sword? Well, I believe the initial
inspiration came from the Ninjago pilot episode, when Kai’s shadow is brought
to life and attacks him as an antagonist.

**CHAPTER FOUR: PRIVATE BUSINESS**

You know, I think my biggest regret with this entire story
is not writing Anna as more of a character. Like, ten-year-olds are perfectly
capable of doing more than just worrying about their siblings and being
slightly cheeky. And I know she smacks someone with a monkey wrench later on,
and *does* stuff, but it still feels
like something’s missing. I had a similar problem with Azura from Foes and
Heirs, but I’m now taking steps to adjust her character into… well, an actual
character. I’m getting rid of all instances of the phrase “big brother”. 1984
flashbacks aside, I have yet to see a siblings refer to each other like that in
real life.

Speaking of underutilized characters: Kaylori. Oh, Kaylori,
I’ so sorry. (Heh. That rhymed.) You know, I’ve since been dropping hints or
references to Kaylori’s existence, but she just hasn’t fit into any other
stories so far. Neither has Vanda. It’s depressing. But especially Kaylori, who
suffered so needlessly over this story. So, you know what?

KAYLORI APPRECIATION SEGMENT

* Her full name is Kaylori Amadeus Armstrong

* In “Maelstrom”, she is twenty-six years old

* That hair is all-natural, au *natural*, whatever you want to call it
	+ No extensions or dye or anything

* She became Overbuild’s assistant through efficiency alone, and took over the position of Assembly faction leader after his death

* Would she and Will have gotten together if it hadn’t been for Will’s death? Almost definitely

* Following the events of this story, she worked with Assembly scientists to reverse her mutations
	+ By the time “Savants” takes place, they’re completely gone – except for her eyes, which still look a *little* reptilian, but she’ll take it

* Building stuff with the Assembly faction means that she’s physically stronger than appearances would suggest

* While she’s a creative type in general, she has a particular passion for music and singing

* She is asexual

So… yeah. There you go. Should tire you all over until her
next appearance, whenever that may be.

**CHAPTER FIVE: FALLING AND FIRED**

Why does Will follow Overbuild? Man, this story raises a lot
of questions. Eh, whatever. Let’s go with “instinct”, like he said. You know,
he is a lot snarkier than I remember. Him and Kaylori both. I wanted to write
him as a level-headed character to balance out Aaron, but I guess Aaron’s own
hyperactiveness sets a pretty low bar. Also, from the looks of it, my romance
mentality at the time was “people snark at each other until they kiss”. (And
yeah, Kay and Will never actually kiss, but whatever.) I’ll put this one down
to a lack of personal experience.

On the plus side, the actual “fired and falling” exchange
from Overbuild is actually half-decent.

**CHAPTER SIX: MEET N’ GREET**

This is how physics works, right?

I’m going to be honest, I honestly don’t remember maelstrom-based
telekinesis being a thing. Even though I constantly reference Gaia throwing
Vector through a door, which I always imagined involving the use of maelstrom.
Silly me.

For anyone rather confused, Aaron’s left hand is supposed to
be Raelyn messing around as she tries to figure out stuff like… y’know,
movement. Her psyche doesn’t actually make itself known in Aaron’s mind until
Duke Exeter’s death – and after that, she basically stays quiet for a while,
stabilizing her own mental state. But before actually breaking out and
attacking people, she just slowly builds up control and power. The later chest
pains and stuff Aaron feels are her doing as well. However, you can still see
her anger and negative emotions seep through in moments such as Aaron’s
realisation that Will’s left Anna on her own.

**CHAPTER SEVEN: DEATH,**
DESTRUCTION, AND OTHER MILD INCONVENIENCES

The scene with Aaron and Shadow running away from something
in the dark is based on a scene from the show “Bravest Warriors”, when Beth and
the Paralysed Horse are running from that giant worm thing. The joke about
forming a psychic crown and mean (originally “mean-ass”) hairdo are from that
scene as well. Also, add another power to the “things Aaron can technically do
but hasn’t for a very long time” list.

So, yes, Shadow backstory. And stuff that I do hope to
address at some point. But I imagine that it has been a while since Shadow’s
transformation, and that by this point he cares more about revenge than about
following up on what actually happened to his family. Feels bad, man. It’s also
hard to keep in mind that Shadow is technically the second ever member of
Pandemonium’s Bane, and one of the founding members. He isn’t in a lot of stuff
other than Maelstrom, and his lack of speech and discernible character means
that he isn’t in a lot of headcanons or anything, but… he’s there. I like to
think that his literary presence (sometimes there, mostly not, can be
surprising to recall that he *is*
there) mirrors his presence to the others.

I myself imagine that the creature/machine mashups are,
like, prototypes or failed machines that Overbuild had been working on – and he
let them loose in the facility after he was “done” with them.

And heeeeeeere’s Vector! I understate his personal
importance to me sometimes, but this guy is OLD – he appeared alongside Aaron,
Plue, and Will in the original “maelstrom minifigure”, playing a significant
role throughout. Vector deserves some respect, yo. He made his way into the
facility all by himself. Just to save his homies. Vector’s *hardcore*, especially considering he ends up commanding the Venture
League. I just love the idea of this desert scavenger earning the respect of
the entire league by pulling stunts such as this. And there’s a lot of
unexplored things about him. I have… *vague*
ideas about family, and none at all (thus far) about his journey through the
Nexus Force. Maybe that could be the first PoA story written by a guest author,
if any of you are up for it! :P

**CHAPTER EIGHT: EW! CHAOTIC MISHAPS!**

I take it back, there’s a reference to a piece of “rank
three” gear (Aaron’s sword) in this chapter.

Just in case it was unclear to anybody, it is the vials that
cause Kaylori to actually mutate. Why Overbuild has chemicals that turn people
into lizard-people, I have absolutely no idea. Why did I even write it in?
Something similar happened in an episode of Martin Mystery and I thought it was
cool. Safe to say, my influences on this story are pretty obvious.

I feel bad for Kaylori.

**CHAPTER NINE: JUST BE BRAVE**

The introduction of Rose! Not just her debut in this story,
but her debut in anything I’ve ever written at all. Ancient history here,
folks.

Anyways, the original ideas for the members of Pandemonium’s
Bane came from a rather peculiar source. Back in the days of
olde/wonder/whatever, someone made a “characters for story submission!” page.
However, for some reason, this one basically exploded, with basically everyone
on the message boards submitting at least one character. Me, being the
excitable person I am, not only submitted a character, but wrote down all of
the OTHER characters, as well as what their abilities were (if they had any).
Flash forward to literal years later, when I’m outlining the team that’ll
eventually become “Pandemonium’s Bane”. I remember the document – a literal
goldmine of characters – and scroll through it, looking for any characters that
had maelstrom abilities (at the time, the idea was for Pandemonium’s Bane to
have a motif of controlling the maelstrom in some way). I find a character who
can disguise others as maelstrom, a character who is immune to maelstrom
infection, and a character who can control large amounts of maelstrom, as well
as transform their arms into weapons. Up to three name changes and at least one
genderbend later, and I was left with Rose, Jacen, and Gaia.

…I feel like I’ve just related the birth of three of my
children, for some reason. That’s weird.

Anyway, uh, yeah. This is also the bit where Aaron gets the
idea for Pandemonium’s Bane, as a concept – starting with him, Shadow and Rose.
It’s interesting how those characters have stayed out of the limelight, in a
lot of ways, yet they’re some of the most important and influential members of
the roster.

**CHAPTER TEN: CAUGHT MONOLOGUING**

Yes, Gaia is to Will’s right. Not going to lie, I was pretty
excited about the character at that point, so I gave her just that little
setup. :P

Also, this is basically the laziest thing to do
writing-wise. Believe me. I know. But 2015 me couldn’t figure out how else to
get the information out there. Which is… I mean, yeesh, I could have done it in
so many better ways.

However, the rest of this chapter is better. Anna actually
does stuff, and uses her ingenuity! Yay! I mean, it probably would have been
better if I had, like, set up the hat being faction gear earlier (also,
remember how I said that chapter one was the only one that referenced game
mechanics? I was WRONG), but for what it is I’m pretty happy. Not a bad idea,
me.

How did Aaron, Shadow, and Rose actually get there? Your
guess is as good as mine. That’s a PoA short story waiting to happen, let me
tell you.

…

Any volunteers? :P

**CHAPTER ELEVEN: MEAT OR POTATOES?**

Eyyy, Jacen and Gaia! Ironic that a lot more is coming out
about Gaia’s family these days, yet I still consider her strongest familial tie
to be with Jacen, whom she is in no way related to. (Honest! :P) I’m pretty
sure I was once doing a character description task in an English lesson, and I
just described them as siblings.

Anyways, the fight scene™ of the chapter was a complete and
total rip-off – like, moment-by-moment recreation – of one from the movie *Sherlock Holmes*. Credit where it’s due,
it’s actually engaging, and not that badly written (comparatively), but I can’t
bare thinking about it anymore. It’s really quite blatant.

**CHAPTER TWELVE: EXIT SIGNS POINT THAT WAY**

I have to say, I honestly don’t remember Jacen being this
wry. I feel like he has more of a sense of humour in this story than he does
later on – or, at least, he does in my mind. Maybe the humour kind of wore off
once he realised he was stuck with these people. Likewise, I don’t remember
Gaia being this frantic or confrontational. However, this can DEFINITELY be
explained away in Savants, and in the revelations that come with her backstory.

Aaron’s decision had been kind of overlooked. I originally
wanted to add some conflict by having them fight the other subjects or
whatever, but that just never came up again.

Is there some kind of mysterious ooky-spooky reason why
Jacen is immune to the maelstrom? Honestly, not… really? As it happens, that’s
just a thing with his genes – a genetic mutation, if you will, that essentially
renders him immune to contaminants. He’s actually not just immune to maelstrom,
but ALL forms of toxins or poisons. You could shoot him up with a
cyanide/arsenic cocktail and he wouldn’t bat an eyelid. He also can’t get
drunk. Again, why is he like this? Maybe he’s one of the 1 in 10,000 (or
however many Savants Norik said there were) who was born with abilities before
experimentation or the Nexus Implosion. Who knows?

How did Vector and Kaylori find Plue (and how did they even
recognise her)? Moar plotholes, yay! And say hello to Dilip and Stu, two
references to the OLD version of Maelstrom. (Maelstrom Minifigure.) I genuinely
cannot believe my idea was to barricade the main characters (and a throwaway
cast) in Plue’s house so that a maelstrom-infected Nexus Force could fight them
in an epic battle. In any case, both of these guys were actually there. Stu as
“Stewie” (which was definitely a reference to Family Guy – the question is WHY
I chose to reference Family Guy, because I’ve never seen the show and I don’t
really like it, so… ???), and Dilip as… Dilip. Dilip was originally a reference
to a contestant from the show “Total Wipeout” – a guy nicknamed Dilip-san, who
was supposedly a trainee ninja – and I guess younger me just thought that he
was an absolute ledge.

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN: THE SPLIT**

Man, I miss the days when swearing just wasn’t on the table
at all, and you could just write “stuff” or “nonsense”. Confrontations are a
lot harder now…

Also, add Gaia polymorphing her limbs to the list of “powers
I’ve basically forgotten about by this point”. It’s a cool one, though. Bit
creepy. But cool.

Aaron: “Anna stays with me, I’ll protect her with my life.”
Aaron [around half a minute later]: “lol Get out of here Anna”

…Why am I like this?

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN: EN ROUTE TO DANGER**

And here everyone splits up! Always the best idea!

Anyways, here we have the entirety of Pandemonium’s Bane –
plus Plue. Was this intentional? Yes it was. And, I must say, I definitely knew
how to pass a Bechdel Test back in the day, which is good. Maybe even a Sexy
Lamp test. (Not that I had any idea what either was.)

And how powerful even is Rose??? How far away were those
three? And she could still disguise them! (Player’s Evil!Rose is looking like
more and more of an antagonist, let me tell you.)

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN: TRAP**

“wHEN was Will sent to find the Nexus Force?”

Shhh.

I have to say, I miss Gaia at these power levels. She can
only really cut loose/reach her full potential when she’s absolutely surrounded
by the stuff. An environment like an open battlefield, or the Darkitecht’s
lair, is great. Anywhere else? Not so much. \*sad face\*

At least she managed to give us a decent action scene here,
yo. I think this is when everyone simultaneously fell in love with her as a
character.

Also, the Darkitecht knows that Raelyn’s in Aaron, AAAH –
what *is* their connection? I’ve hinted
at something between the two based on Raelyn’s grudge. What is said something? It
will be revealed someday, hopefully. Raelyn… lordy oh-lord, I really want to
expand on her at some point. Her character, her backstory, her depths, her
fears. I tried to do it in Savants? It’s a work in progress.

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN: BRAWL TIME**

Here, have the main villain literally beat the main hero
with a cane! Kids’ stuff! Lol XD!!!!

HOW DID THE MODERATORS LET *THIS* THROUGH BUT NOT *KISSING*-!

\*clears throat\*

Okay, so, uh. Yay(?), more hints at Raelyn! At this point in
time, Raelyn was still totally evil, and I was setting up for that fact to make
itself known in a devastating fashion. For now, here’s some internal pain!

The others just drop through the ceiling – AGAIN. I’m
spotting a pattern emerging, anyone else?

Also, yes. Rose knows spinjitzu. How? Beats me. Will the art
of spinjitzu carry forward into the Power of Ages universe that I’m trying to
establish? Definitely not, I’ll have to do some retconning, but Rose *will* know a decent amount of martial
arts. I guess she has to defend herself somehow.

Why did, uh, the Darkitecht not tie anyone up in bloody
electric threads sooner, if he could?

SHUT YOUR ENTIRE F-

And here we go. This is Raelyn’s emergence, as it were – at
Dante’s moment of great emotional instability, when he sees the Darkitecht
about to murder Plue in front of him. I mean, I don’t even know Plue as well as
he does (hypothetically speaking – I’m the author!) but that’d cheese *me* off, for sure.

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: IT’SSSS THE LIZARD!**

^Chapter title ripped off from a comment that James made on
the original forum page.

I do love this little line: “Dilip was on the ceiling (?)”. Question
mark included. Those kinds of “what” moments, with the narrative itself
questioning, have become part of my style as I’ve moved towards writing
technique being more directly linked to the thoughts of a character. The
question mark is probably Will’s moment of just: “wat”.

Bit
of… ah yes, bit of backstory with Vector, Dilip and Stu. Please note that after
these scenes, Stu disappears from the story. He’s never seen again after this.
Will he ever reappear? I have no bloody idea.

And
Kaylori is now fully mutated. Huzzah. \*wince\*

On
the plus side, I do like her exchange with Will, and their back of fourth. They
do actually have a decent amount of chemistry, I’ll be the first to admit.
Still, Will’s dead in canon now. I’ll have to leave it to the au fanfics to see
anything more happen between them. :P

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: THERE AND BACK AGAIN**

Will,
“just resting” is a crap excuse, and you know it.

A
welcome to Duke Exeter and Vector’s ego, both making what are technically their
debut appearances. Duke’s character is another one that I’d quite like to
expand upon.

And
huzzah, Peragrine and Stirling cameos? They’re here because of parallel
universe stuff, obviously. Probably the alternate versions of the characters in
Savants. Heh-heh.

How,
I wonder, did Rose get a Nexus Force communicator? The answer is, quite
frankly, SHUSH.

**CHAPTER NINETEEN: EVERYTHING GOES WRONG**

hhhhHHHHH

This
was based on, I think, the Amazing Spiderman Two, but in retrospect, a movie as
poorly written as that wasn’t really one I should have been taking notes from.

**CHAPTER TWENTY: EVERYTHING GOES WRONGER**

RIP
Dukey Boy

I’m
sure I’ll develop him someday. I have an idea or two, but even then, those
ideas are less about him and more about the effect he has on others. Ah well.
He’s a paradigm. (Or *was*, I guess.)
That’s his purpose.

Kudos
to me, though (yes, I know, I’m so humble, get all the sarcasm out of your
system now), for trying to develop the villains a bit? We get A sense of
history here, and a glimpse of depth. Which is… nice. Was I originally going
somewhere with this? Yeah. I think I was planning to write a prequel telling
the story of the faction leaders. By this point, I’d say that idea has been
shelved. Cancelled? Nah. Early days yet. But shelved? Yes, I have enough to
work on as is.

And
we do get more mention of “the prophecy” here, which is interesting. Why was it
three people earlier, and seven people now? That reflects how the number of
gem-wielders I had planned out went from three to seven. No joke. Originally,
it was just going to be Dante, Lux, and Solara. (Yeah, remember her, from
Moving Targets?) Plans have changed, though. What’ll happen to Lux and Solara
remains to be seen yet.

Muhaha.

**CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: FORWARD PLANNING**

Here
we see the beginning of Plue’s development to an actual character (from, like,
a character who could PROBABLY be replaced with a footstool without much
difference). The best way to develop a character, it seems, is to write from
their perspective. I mean… \**shrugs*\*

It
makes sense.

Also,
she gets really lucky, pulling all those machines apart and nothing too bad
happening.

**CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: A GUIDE TO MEANDERING**

Okay,
I’ve alluded to why Nexus Tower fell, but I honestly only did it at the time
because I needed a PROPER action setpiece. Not that it doesn’t work, but…. Sigh.

Okay,
so my current working theory is that Overbuild oversaw Nexus Tower’s
construction (being the leader of the Assembly faction (the builder faction),
after all). And he purposefully included structural weaknesses. Why? I don’t
know. I’m not 100% sure what Overbuild’s game even was, by this point, but
whatever. So, he includes those weaknesses, and no-one ever finds out because
the Tower is never actually attacked. Until Gaia sets off explosives in the
tower as a distraction. The explosion destroys on of the weak spots, and a
chain reaction is triggered that bring the entire Tower down. Kablooie.

So
that’s what *I* think happened.

Vector’s
scene here (as well as, really, the first time Gaia and Vector properly
interact that we see) was ~~inspired by~~ ripped from a scene from
Eddsworld. Good stuff, though. Iconic. Anyways, that’s how to get a guy to fall
in love with you, I guess – just use your superpowers to throw him at a fucking
door.

In
other news, Gaia levitating herself doesn’t seem possible with so little
maelstrom around but shut up, and Shadow probably has his own prequel-worthy
story, some kind of conclusion to which is alluded to here. (I mean, once
again, I’m short on actual details, but whatever.)

**CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: DESERTATION**

Moar Vectaia. Plue, though she doesn’t know it, is actually
a third wheel for the entirety of this chapter. Later, Dilip, Kaylori, and Rose
become fourth, fifth, and sixth wheels respectively. This is now canon, I make
the rules.

…

No further comment, I guess? I think we all seen enough of
the reading your old writing memes. The subject can only be milked for so many
jokes.

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS**

I TOLD YOU THAT WAS HOW TO GET A GUY TO FALL FOR YOU.

Respectively, how to get a girl to fall for you: use your
own body to break her fall after she’s jumped out of a window like a prat.
Works every time. Also, notice the motif, if you will, of Vector receiving
blows that would probably kill a normal person each time?

I do like the whole little chase sequence, though. One of
the good things about having a cast as immense as mine is that there are lots
of little groups that form, and interactions that you don’t necessarily even
consider as interesting end up happening. I mean, this whole “team” (Vector,
Rose, Gaia, Kaylori, Dilip, and Plue) are actually a pretty cool bunch. (Even
now, I imagine Vector and Rose as good friends.)

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: HEAVEN IN HELL**

Pray for this chapter, y’all, because only half of it is on
the wikia for some reason, and the rest is probably in those archives of
Talmid’s that are always painful for me to sort through. There is, however,
still a decent amount I can say about this chapter. (Yay, you get to listen to
me ramble more!”)

I originally intended Nyssa to be a mechanic sort of
character. (??) No idea why, but I guess she’s the spiritual predecessor to my
other mechanics (Azura is the one that comes to mind).

And here we have Lux be introduced, which is… which is cool.
I’m not going to lie, this bit was basically shameless setup for Lux’s
character. Whether he turns out to be a gem-wielder or not (I’m not telling),
he’s got quite a dramatic path ahead of him. I guess you could say I’ve got
most of his life planned out.

Where the hickedy-heck was I going with the Minithran
civilisation heading TOWARDS the maelstrom vortex? Well, lads, I don’t know
either. All I know is that I forgot about it, because- actually, hmm. I can’t
talk further, because I don’t know if people have figured everything out yet.
Uuuhh… Aaron sets up a little hidey-hole on this planet chunk, showing scant
regard for the fact that it’s about to hit the maelstrom.

Canon explanation? Uuuuh… I guess those “top scientists” are
the top for a reason.

**CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: EXPOSITION AT IT’S FINEST**

Subtle.

“Hey, Harold, maybe you should uuuuh GET SOME BETTER NAMES
FOR YOUR CHAPTERS.”

Where was I? Ah, yes, Raelyn. We’re getting a bit of
development for her now. It’s an interesting contrast that I’ve noticed between
the original Maelstrom Minifigure, and this story. In MM, Duke Exeter’s death
was played more for laughs than anything else, whilst the monster inside Aaron
(well, I guess he was called “Harold” then, but please don’t fucking remind me)
was the backbone of drama/angst for the story. This time round, Duke Exeter’s
death has become a character moment for both Dante and Raelyn, as well as
establishing the grounds for their restricting relationship – whilst their
actual interactions are far more light-hearted.

It’s interesting, to see those changes.

Also, a disclaimer: I FORGOT ABOUT SAND. SAND IS AN ELEMENT
TOO. Ah well, Raelyn’s obviously a little short of memory, but it’s been
millennia. I think we can give her a pass. Sand isn’t one of the remaining
gems, anyway, so it doesn’t matter. It won’t come up.

…or will it?

**CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: FROM THE MOUTHS OF YOUTHS**

EGAD

THIS READS BAD

To me, at least. I’m not one hundred percent sure why this
particular chapter rubs me the wrong way, but it just feels… well, not
wince-worthy to me, but close. I’m sorry. I reckon my struggles with writing
this chapter were my subconscious telling me to stop.

I mean, I guess it’s fine. I’m being too harsh. I tried to
develop characters, at least. And the idea of Raelyn screwing up Aaron’s
attempts at inner peace are kind of funny.

**CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: BAD NEWS**

Hello, establishment that Gaia does not enjoy thinking? Why?
Well (aside from her being kind of a dumbass and finding some forms of thinking
quite difficult)… Highwing. Blame Highwing for making her EXTREMELY wary of intellectuals.

(Aside: it’s difficult, with Gaia and thinking? Because I
think she totally has it in her to be wry or crafty, but academic or even
conventional intelligence isn’t where she shines (I can’t remember what her IQ
was, but it’s below average). This is made even harder to show in writing by
the fact that she will pretend to be stupid to get people off their guard,
pretend to be stupid because she can’t be bothered to think for herself,
pretend to be stupid to hide the fact that she doesn’t understand what’s going
on, and actually be stupid.)

Also, DAMN IT, I committed a writing sin. (A probable
impossibility is preferable to a possible improbability – Overbuild being
conveniently on the television is bad writing on my part. ;\_;)

Finally, shoutout to Plue. Let’s hope that she doesn’t have
an actual mental breakdown from all of this.

**CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: THERE IS NO GUEST LIST**

More exchange theft, this time from Star vs the Forces of
Evil.

In the meantime, cut to me laughing at having a literal
padlocked safe for Overbuild to keep his important stuff in.

This chapter and the next are both extremely melodramatic,
and I can only apologize. Credit where its due, however, I did actually set up
and foreshadow Will being infected – be it his *temporary* infection early on, or Overbuild relaying infection
statistics. And now we have a nice ticking clock element, and an eventual death
in sight – which motivates Will to take the action he does later on.

**CHAPTER THIRTY: FRONT-ROW SEATS FOR THE END OF THE WORLD**

Cool fight scene, mixed in with MORE stolen jokes (the
jugular thing is from Red vs Blue, though it apparently comes up in the lion
king as well?). Yay.

To be honest, I confuse myself, because I don’t really get
why Overbuild would let the maelstrom take over everything, destroying both
imagination and probably every other human imaginable. I just… it confuzzles
me. It’s stuff like this that honestly makes me want to do a rewrite. Will I?
Not for at least years. But someday? Almost definitely. I’m thinking right
before I finish the series, I’ll rewrite this story to better fit with
everything else I establish, as well as… just to make it better.

I’ll keep the old version though, promise. I’m still proud
of this story, for better or worse.

**CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: HERE COMES A NEW CHALLENGER**

The good:

* Aaron suggesting “crystal” as a name.
* The general humanization of the gem (plus a gender reveal, I guess? My thought process was basically “*hmm, I find the gem boring now, I’m going to make it a girl”*. Why

exactly I thought this, I have no idea (probably because I was clued into the
fact that the story needed more female characters or whatever), but seeing
where her character has come, I’m glad that I did.)

* The chemistry between Aaron and the gem (and NO, it’s not romantic chemistry, you nasties).

The bad:

* Aaron touching a rock and seeing the future (some heavy-handed foreshadowing from yours truly).

* The sort of stolen description? I didn’t come up with the explosion-beauty metaphor, let’s put it like that. Didn’t come up with

Mrs Mccrabby either, to be honest.

* Aaron getting, like, old memories and stuff? I’m honestly not sure why I included this, especially seeing as I’ve ignored the

potential effects of it since then? Kind of?
My main problem with all this is that I was, at the time,
adamant that I wanted Aaron to DRASTICALLY change over the course of the story.
And, I mean, fair enough. Character development is good. But the name changing
at the end of the story (Aaron changing his name to Dante) was supposed to
represent these changes… sort of. My point is, he hasn’t changed drastically,
and I honestly don’t want him too now. Is he more burdened by responsibility,
and by the gem? Yes. Is that about it? Also yes. I just… I don’t know. It feels
more like a setup than a payoff.

**CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: SYMPATHIES FROM A ROCK**

Let’s get this out of the way? The new sword symbolism has
been completely abandoned, I don’t know where I was going, I don’t really care
either. KJLJKDLFJAKSDFLK, WHY AM I LIKE THIS.

Writing these author’s notes, I initially expected the
earlier chapters to be the most cringey, or whatever (because they were older).
What I’ve discovered, however, is physical proof of that whole graph of
interest thing, in writing, where middle-quality writing is more boring than
writing that’s not necessarily better. The early chapters of this story are far
less coherent, but they border on camp, and they’re kind of fun to read for
cheesiness. But as the writing gets a little bit better, it gets less
interesting, and more significant problems begin to arise.

Ah well. A sign I’ve improved, if nothing else. And I
probably sound really harsh, which isn’t my intention. I still kind of love
this whole story.

Anyways, uh, I like the fact that Raelyn is now PROPERLY
introduced. If nothing else, the gradual introduction of her character was
probably quite good.

The Minithrans were something of a missed opportunity, in
hindsight. *Shrug*.

**CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE: THE DIE IS CAST**

“Die” is the singular word for “Dice”, if anyone happened to
be wondering.

Anyways, huzzah! The final battle!

The dinosaur bones line is lifted from Plinkett’s Revenge of
the Sith review, but I’m not even annoyed, because that line remains one of the
most iconic spoken by any character in PoA. :P

Also, me @ Anna’s lack of characterisation:

O O F

Pew pew pew

Battles

Yay

How did that lot get their hands on a jet? Shush. Was it
intentional that they were the to-be members of Pandemonium’s Bane? Yeah, boi.
Safe to say, I was excited about my super team by this point.

**CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: MAYHEM**

This is nice. We see what may well be Gaia’s full
destructive potential, which is pretty baller. Especially because this is the
first (and likely last) time that she’ll actually reach these levels. Dragons?
PSHHHHHAW, we have Gaia.

Interesting to see Kaylori and Vanda sniping each other. Not
that it was intentional, but that’s actually an interesting rivalry that could
be explored in the future. Especially seeing as they’re both faction leaders
now.

**CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT?**

I was (and am) still trying to keep Raelyn separate from
just being a  “kooky edgy character”.
Humanising her makes her feel more relatable or whatever, and she has suffered
a LOT (which will be explored… at some point, and I’m not saying when), but she
is still completely remorseless when it comes to killing. We see a bit more of
her philosophy in “Week Two”, but she’s been around long enough (as the gem) to
see that individual lives are rarely particularly important. What does it
matter to her if it kills someone? The universe isn’t going to collapse in on
itself if any one person dies, so it isn’t going to bother her.

People make a lot of empty threats revolving around death:
“I’ll kill you!” sort of thing. You’ve seen it, I’ve seen it, we’ve all seen
it. But none of Raelyn’s threats are empty. This is significant. And we see
Aaron – who is, for lack of better words, a good boy – go up against this
beyond rugged personality, forced to match her in obstinacy in order to save
lives.

Raelyn’s plan? That was dumb of me, I’m sorry, but yes,
Maddox is another member of Pandemonium’s Bane. Technically a founding member,
though I have trouble thinking of him (him? It? I don’t even know) as such if
I’m being honest. He doesn’t have a personality now, not really. That gets
picked up later, after he spends all his time hanging out with some rather zany
personalities indeed.

Some nice banter, mixed in with… like, Catwoman vibes? (I
mean the TERRIBLE movie by Pitof). These vibes come from the fact that Dante
(like Catwoman in that movies) really SHOULDN’T be hung up on any kind of
self-avenging. Granted, he isn’t outright saying “you killed me”, but guess
what, Dante? You didn’t die.

Anyways, that’s my fear. :P

Llllet’s talk about the rest of the chapter now. (Man, this
is a long ‘un.)

Well… melike, I guess? I honestly don’t think this chapter
turned out as well as it could have been, and there are some reasons for that.

1. The character limits on the message boards I was writing on at the time cut me off far sooner than I would have really liked. I

didn’t have time to dwell on this whole concept.

1. Being smothered with the wool pulled over one’s eyes is a funny visual, but that just means it’s kind of out of place in what’s

supposed to be a genuinely serious scene.

1. This is too based on the Doctor’s speech from the Zygon inversion. It’s distracting. Grr.

That being said, there’s some stuff that I think is pretty
good here.
Overbuild’s plan is, ultimately, his greatest quality gone
awry. Everyone says that seeing the potential in stuff – seeing the world for
what it could be, instead of what it is – is admirable. But what happens when
the could-be’s are flawed in someone else’s eyes, if not your own? Does
creativity have a too-far? I dunno, but I like to think that Overbuild’s perspective
poses these questions, as we see him do what’s clearly not the right thing, for
weird reasons.

Aaron, on the other hand, attacks Overbuild’s ambivalence
and lack of personal attention to the conflict. A scientist, a man of
intellect, has never experienced the things that Aaron (little more than a foot
soldier) has experienced. It’s like the British military officers in the First
World War, who were criticized for sending their men to die in the mud whilst
they drank wine far away from the battlefield, complaining about comparatively
trivial issues.

It’s not necessarily a complex debate, but it’s one that
(unfortunately) still worth bringing up. There’s a difference between a leader
and an overseer that often gets overlooked, and you can kind of see that
between them. Aaron, definitely, is very front-lines-y. Overbuild is like that
too, but he’s more… secretive, I guess. I’m reaching, because little of this
was really intentional, but it’s just interesting stuff to think about.

**CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: SHORTEST SIEGE IN HISTORY**

RIP Dilip-San, you ledge

Why didn’t they use that, uh, defence until now? (Or at
least try and fix it earlier?)

SHUSH.

Since when were Dilip and Jacen friends? They weren’t necessarily
friends so much as people who came to some king of mutual agreement – which is
probably why Dilip’s sacrifice to save Jacen is so impactful, because it wasn’t
a decision based on anything too personal. It wasn’t as though Dilip thought “I
shall save this friend of mine”, he thought “I will save this person because it
is in my ability to do so, even if my own life is forfeit as a result”. I
haven’t yet, but I would *like* to
explore the effect that this had on Jacen. Certainly, I think it had something
to do with why he sticks around with the rest of them when all is said and
done.

Yes, the sword Aaron has here is Duke Exeter’s sword. He
doesn’t use it in future stories, though, because… it’s not his. It belonged to
Duke, and it belongs to his descendants. Will we see the sword again?

*Con un poco de suerte.*

**CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN: FIGHT ALL THE THINGS!**

It’s a return to everything being hilariously camp! (At
least, in my opinion.)

Also, interesting how *Gaia* is actually the one holding *Vector* back. One might initially consider it to be the other way around, until we
consider the fact that Gaia is typically far more upbeat an individual. (What
we see in Savants is something of an exception.) Is she happy with Overbuild?
No, of course not, and she probably has the most right to beat his face in. But
she also doesn’t want to see the man’s face beat in before he can actually help
them get out of the situation.

…I’m NOT RAMBLING TO EXCUSE POTENTIAL CHARACTER
INCONSISTENCY, WHY WOULD YOU ASK?

In other news, everyone gets a catchphrase, and Aaron and
Plue remain inseparable. More at eleven.

**CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT: GOODBYE, MY FRIEND**

RIP Will

Me: releases this chapter

My readers:

(true story)

You know what? I could totally ramble on about cheesy
dialogue or character inconsistencies, but I’m not going to for this chapter.
It deserves better than that. For all the flaws, this was the chapter from
which people were able to draw genuine emotion. Based on the feedback I’ve
received, this is still the saddest moment in the Power of Ages series (thus
far (MUHAHA)). Even if it probably helped that I chose a soundtrack to go with
this scene. I was originally going to have there be a moment where Aaron
actually found Will’s body or something like that – or, at least, showed the
aftermath – but SPACING CONSTRAINTS ON THE MESSAGE BOARDS.

Gee darn it.

Hmm, maybe I should make it a habit that chapter
thirty-eights are always emotionally destructive? Could be funny. But we’ll
see. I’m not going to screw around with story layouts and formats for the sake
of consistency between emotional punches.

**CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE: WHAT HAPPENS NOW?**

So, uh, the continuity in my universe is probably already
shot to pieces, but let me explain.

Humans in this universe contain a dormant “savant” gene that
will give them superpowers or whatever if it’s activated. It’s really rare when
naturally occurring – around one in a hundred thousand, or something ludicrous
like that. Some people also gain powers through intense scientific
experimentation. (See the Highwing Institute\*.) However, when the
Imagination Nexus implodes here, as well as kicking the maelstrom in the
metaphorical nuts, it also messes around with everyone’s DNA – and a BUNCH of
people who weren’t savants previously have had that gene activated, gotten
superpowers, whatever you want to refer to it as.

Does Plue have powers? Doesn’t look like it. But who knows,
amirite? I wrote that in because I wasn’t sure whether I wanted her to have
powers or not, so I could leave it open-ended. Spoiler alert: I’m still not
sure.

Oh noes, Anna is hurt. Whatever will come of this?

…I need to save my jokes for next chapter.

And yes, we get the aftermath of Will’s death. Plue and
Aaron are his two oldest friends, and I think I did a pretty good job of portraying
emotional wreckage. Was it too short? Oh, *definitely*.
But in my defence, they’re both the kind of people who focus on what needs to
be done before letting their emotions get the better of them.

Anecdote time: I once found the dead body of my aunt’s dog,
who was staying with us, when I was at home alone. (Doesn’t sound like utter
emotional devastation, but I had known this dog for the better half of my life,
so he was something of an old friend.) I was able to mostly control my
emotions, called my mum to let her know what was happening, attempted
resuscitation, e.t.c. I felt myself waver a couple of times when I spoke to
people about it on the phone – like, just an “ooohh no” feeling when I
mentioned it. It was only after I dragged my sister away (because she didn’t
need to see that, let’s be honest) and that I was away from everyone except her
that I just sort of broke down. It felt really sudden – like, my part was done,
I had handed the situation to the adults, and only THEN was I being hit with the
emotional realisation that my friend was gone.

Uh, where was I?

Right, right, yes. My POINT is that I feel as though Plue
and Aaron both react in this sort of way, where they focus on business before
giving themselves time to process everything that has happened.

And here we have the final laying down the scenes of
Pandemonium’s Bane, where Aaron accepts the responsibility of being someone
people follow, and someone with extraordinary abilities. \*insert dramatic music
here\*

I do love imagining Plue’s extended reaction to the whole
Raelyn thing. That’s something I sort of want to explore, to be honest. If your
significant other suddenly had another (slightly evil) conscience shoved into
their head, what would you do? I mean, Plue tolerates it, at least. I think.
Maybe she and Raelyn could be friends. They have that potential. They’d
probably get along a lot better if one wasn’t sharing a body with the other’s
boyfriend. :P

\*The Highwing Institute was the facility where most of the
first half of this story is set – the backstory can be found in *Savants* for anyone interested

**CHAPTER FORTY: PANDEMONIUM’S BANE**

Ah, some light-hearted shenanigans. Missed this. Some more
emphasis on the members of Pandemonium’s Bane itself, setting up their roles
and dynamics. Plue an introduction to the new faction leaders. And why are the
faction leaders these people now? Well:

Vanda: Already was a faction leader.

Kaylori: Overbuild’s personal assistant – experienced,
intelligent, and respected.

Vector: Has adventuring credentials (and six consecutive
mosh pit victories) under his belt.

Plue: Primogeniture. (Sort of. She isn’t a male, but
whatever.)

What do I mean by primogeniture? Well, I’ve got to keep some
pseudo-mysteries. Although I only really call them mysteries because no-one has
brought them up with me yet. Maybe everyone knows stuff. In any case, I’m going
to outright say something in the notes for the epilogue, so, uh… I should
probably keep this one for a little longer, just until someone can be bothered
to look up the word and put the pieces together.

**EPILOGUE**

Okay.

“He had dropped his sister off with the Minithrans and Lux”.

The amnesiac sister who won’t remember anything. This
includes her name.

\*sighs heavily\*

Izora\* is Anna, people. Izora = Anna. Izora and
Anna are the same person. Izora is Aaron’s sister. (Or should that be Dante’s,
by this point?)

\*Izora is featured heavily in “Cometh the Hour”, for anyone
wondering who I’m babbling on about.

Yeah, that’s a thing. I was never really discreet about it?
In that drawing for potential gem-wielders I did, I made sure that she and
Dante had similar skin tones and hair colours. \*shrugs\*

And here we get to the NAME CHANGE. (dun dun duuuun)

I received some positive feedback about it, which was nice.
I initially did it because I wanted an in-universe excuse to stop calling the
character “Harold”, because he was originally named after me because he was
originally a self-insert. But then I changed all instances of Harold to
“Aaron”, which makes me wonder why I even bothered with the name change. But in
retrospect, it does kind of showcase his character development. So, oh well.

Featuring a cameo by…. Death?

\*insert to be continued meme here\*

I actually have a decent amount of plans for how this plays
into the story. Was it necessary? Of course not, but this entire debacle isn’t
necessary, so who cares?

And, uh, yeah. That’s “Maelstrom”.