Fear & Sunshine: Dark Matters: Fear & Sunshine, #2

By Donovan Scherer

Having found her place in the Darksmith legacy, Sunshine Saliente is now in the business of mad science. Though she would be more than happy to be spending her time watching clouds drift by and daydreaming of her happy days of living in a treehouse, there's work to do. The doors of Darksmith Manor have reopened and its first customer has arrived.

There are, however, those who would like nothing more than to see the monster-making family come to an end, once and for all.

978-0-9841746-7-6

• Language: English
• Publisher: Studio Moonfall
• Release date: Sep 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9780984174676

Book preview

Fear & Sunshine:

Dark Matters

Text & Illustrations Copyright © 2013 by Donovan Scherer

Published in 2013 by Studio Moonfall LLC

All rights reserved

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

For information regarding permission, write to:

Studio Moonfall LLC

5605 Sheridan Rd., #1172

Kenosha, WI 53141-1172

StudioMoonfall.com • DonovanScherer.com • FearAndSunshine.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Scherer, Donovan.

Title: Fear & sunshine dark matters / written and illustrated by Donovan Scherer.

Other titles: Book two of the Darksmith family legacy. | Dark matters.

Description: Kenosha, WI : Studio Moonfall LLC, 2013 |

Summary: Far from the tree house she grew up in, Sunshine Saliente has claimed her place as the heiress of Darksmith Manor and it is up to her to breathe new life into the legacy left behind by her family she never knew.

Identifiers: LCCN 2013916112| ISBN 9780984174669 (softcover) | ISBN 9780984174683 (epub) | ISBN 9780984174676 (ebook)

Subjects: BISAC: Juvenile fiction / Horror. | Juvenile fiction / Ghost stories. | Juvenile fiction / Family / Orphans & Foster Homes | CYAC: Magic. | Supernatural--Fiction. | Robots. | Horror stories.

For the fans

Whether we met at the Kenosha Harbor Market, a comic convention, or somewhere online, it means the world to me that you’ve supported my work and the Fear & Sunshine series.

Thank you so much for letting me know you’re out there and waiting for new monsters.

Special Thanks:

Javi Vega, Jeanne Scherer, Dan Merfeld, Doug Scherer, Svend Widvey, Chad Tuura, Kelli Cross

Fear & Sunshine:

Dark Matters

Written & Illustrated by Donovan Scherer

Contents

Introduction

•

One

A Day in the Life

Two

Order & Disorder

Three

Elexus Plasmaglacus

Four

All in the Family

Five

Meeting of the Minds

Six

House of Monsters

Seven

Turn of the Tide

Eight

A Touch of Madness

Nine

Pieces of the Puzzle

Ten

Delivery

Eleven

Into the Dark

Twelve

The Bridge

Thirteen

Lost & Found

•

Epilogue

•

Extras

Introduction

The doors to Darksmith Manor are once again open for business. The young leader of the monster-making dynasty, Sunshine Saliente, continues to surprise me. Raised far from our world that struggles to maintain the balance of peace and chaos, the girl has clearly inherited the gift that blessed her forefathers.

Hopefully, it will not also be her undoing.

- Death -

A Day in the Life

Wriggling down the tree’s jagged bark, the pinkish blob of gelatinous slime crept toward its afternoon meal. Led solely by instinct, there was no consciousness telling it what to consume, or when; just that it must feed.

The blob mindlessly allowed gravity to pull it down, closer and closer to its prey. With its presence unnoticed, the blob stretched itself outward, ready to make contact and begin the four-day process of digestion. Of course, with a meal of this size, it may take a bit longer.

Just as the blob was ready to claim its prize, stretched out like an umbrella of fluorescent ooze over the little girl, she looked up. The moment to strike had never been better. Let them know the danger and then attack. A standard practice of monsters everywhere. But, unexpectedly, the girl smiled at her untimely fate. And even more unexpectedly, the blob knew she smiled. As everyone knows, Pelomyxa nadalladus have no eyes to see the face of their food, no ears to hear the scream before it becomes muffled beneath a cocoon of goo. They have only an instinct to consume, move along and consume whatever they happen to come upon next, with no thought to what they’re doing and not even a memory of their last meal.

This soon-to-be-entree brought out something different in the blob. The blob sensed something, and to sense anything is a sensation the blob had never known. It was a familiarity. This girl was something different. Not a meal. Not another blob. She was something the blob could have never understood because, of course, blobs have no brains. She was the heiress of Darksmith Manor.

Hey there, little goober, the girl said to the blob, leaning back against the tree as she straddled one of its large, lower branches. Come on down. I’m Sunshine.

Sunshine shifted around and lay back onto the branch, watching the pinkish blob work its way down the tree bark toward her. As it oozed down to the branch, she went back to what she was doing before noticing her guest. The flower petals on her pen flopped up and down as Sunshine chewed at the tip. She held her notebook above her head and read the letter she had just finished writing.

All done, Sunshine smiled. She sat up, putting the notebook in her lap and signing her name at the bottom of the page. The blob was now in front of her, perched at the base of the branch, still with none of the usual instinct to eat the child in front of it.

You know, Sunshine said as she patted the blob with the flowery end of her pen, I used to live in a tree like this. Not all the way like this, I mean. We had a house in it. The blob sat there silently, wobbling each time she tapped the pen against it. And Pops and Momsy were there … are there. And pretty soon, I get to go back. In two weeks. That’s how long Doc says things around here should be okay without me around.

Sunshine leaned forward, lying down with her face inches away from the creature that, moments ago, was about to have her as a hearty meal. She put her notebook down with the pen on top of it. Then she put her hands against her cheeks, and stretched her fingers out to resemble thick, shaggy sideburns. In a deep, raspy voice, she said, "‘Two weeks, munchkin’, says Doc. ‘After that, business, she’ll be a-booming.’"

She let out a cough after trying the gruff-voiced impression. That’s what Doc says. Mum Furley, too. Once I get the hang of my job here, the whole wide world will know that Darksmith Manor is back in business. And I’m okay with helping make some monsters and robots and stuff, but I want to spend some time with Pops and Momsy. They’re my family, Sunshine crossed her arms and rested her chin against them. I miss them.

A little smile grew across Sunshine’s face before she could give herself a real chance to reminisce. She pushed herself up a bit, now even closer to the blob. I like this job, she said. I really do. It’s just that, sometimes, I don’t really know what I’m doing. Mr. Fear is gone now, and all the bad guys that were with him want to be good guys. I want to help them all. I want to make them all be good guys.

Sunshine sighed and let her head sink into the blob’s gelatinous slime. For a moment, she thought of her foster parents back in Wandering Willows of Shwibala, a land far away and not at all part of the world she was in now. She remembered waking up early to help Momsy pluck fresh vegetables from the garden. She remembered helping Pops build the tools they needed to make their house in the tree cozier. She remembered walking through the forest on random adventures with her stuffed rabbit, Bunny.

Then, she thought of how she had come to this new world of monsters and had brought Bunny to life, only to have him return back to a plain, stuffed rabbit. She knew she would see Pops and Momsy again. She also knew that Bunny, her giant, blue-furred protector, was forever gone. His spirit was now in Nocnitia, the place monsters go when they leave this world.

I miss you, too, Sunshine whispered, although she couldn’t hear herself with her head submerged in the living blob beside her.

Poompf. Poompf. Sunshine opened her eyes. She couldn’t see anything but the dim daylight, tinted pink from the color of the blob. Poompf.

Sunshine quickly pulled her head out from the blob. Poompf? She swung around, looking toward Darksmith Manor. Poompf? Her eyes squinted beneath her orange headband as she tried to find the source of the sound.

BOOM!

Oh! Sunshine gasped. Boom, not poompf! She saw smoke billowing up from the back of her new home, the home built generations back that had, over the years, earned its reputation as the leading supplier of monsters everywhere. Sunshine ripped the letter she had written from the notebook, quickly folding and stuffing it, along with her flower-tipped pen, into her pocket.

Here, little goober, Sunshine jammed the notebook into the blob. Have something to munch on. We’ve got to go see what that boom is. As soon as she said that, Sunshine picked up the goober and leapt down from the tree branch. She came down with a thud but sprang up just as quick. Holding tight to the jelly-like blob, she began sprinting toward the manor.

Sunshine ran from the edge of the southern forest. Long, dry grass on the few small hills littering the field that surrounded Darksmith Manor whistled in the crisp, early autumn wind. It had started as such a nice day; some time off from dealing with her new job to write a letter to Pops and Momsy Saliente. And now, here she was, running toward explosions. She could only assume some fantastic experiment in mad science had gone terribly wrong.

Miss Sunshine! a voice croaked from the field. From the corner of her eye, Sunshine saw a green blur fly above the tall grass and disappear back into it just as she turned toward the voice. A moment later, the blur emerged again. Gripping one end of his spear, the warrior of the Croakius Ribitus nation lunged forward, pole vaulting his way through the field, one massive leap at a time.

Frokki! Sunshine shouted as she continued to run. Something’s blowing up again!

Side by side, they continued toward Darksmith Manor, black plumes of smoke rising from the back of the building. The kitchen!

You hang tight now, boss.

What?

Frokki fell back, getting behind Sunshine. She slowed down and looked back to see the frog-like creature bent down and beginning to move full speed ahead. Sunshine yelped and turned to try to run even faster.

Frokki croaked, Leapfrog Big Hoppity!

Sunshine kept running, but Frokki was faster. She glanced back and saw that he was right behind her. Knowing she wouldn’t be able to outrun him, she did the only thing she could and leapt as high as possible.

Before she could look down, Sunshine was sitting on Frokki’s shoulders, gripping tight for a round of Leapfrog Big Hoppity.

Holding on for dear life, Sunshine bounced up and down as Frokki gained more speed. The goober, now stuck to her shirt, left her hands free to clutch Frokki’s head. Through blurred vision, she could see other monsters rushing toward the manor – some of the remnants of Fear’s army, some of the Strays who were cast aside by the humans of Munstro, and some of her own creations.

Frokki’s webbed fingers wrapped around his spear. He held it high at his side, ready to jam into the ground for the biggest two-person-one-blob pole vault Sunshine had ever imagined.

Despite wanting to squeeze her eyes as tight as possible, she managed to peek through one eye to see Darksmith Manor now towering above them. It was so close that she could no longer spot the smoke rising up behind it. Just then, she felt a jerk as Frokki slammed the front end of the spear into the ground.

We’re not gonna make it! Sunshine shouted.

Frokki kept his bulging eyes on the spear and shouted, We make it!

Sunshine’s worry disappeared as the trust she had for her friend took its place. And then, that calm was replaced by a mad excitement that started from deep in her belly. Sunshine’s grin stretched from ear to ear, Leapfrog Big Hoppity!!!

Sunshine squeezed tight to Frokki’s shoulders. Time seemed to slow down. She watched the spear bend, ready to fling them up over the third story of Darksmith Manor and send them flying in between the two enormous towers on each side. But for some reason, that moment took just a bit too long.

Sunshine’s eyes darted left and right as she tried to figure out why they weren’t flying through the air yet. She looked at the spear and quickly realized that Frokki’s webbed fingers were no longer gripping the end of it. Sunshine laughed as she looked down and saw that it was Frokki’s tongue wrapped around the spear while the frog-like creature was going cross-eyed, trying to hold them steady.

Wee git weeel bug hoppidy, Frokki mumbled, talking around his tongue. Frokki’s webbed feet released the ground. The spear snapped straight and, just as it did, Frokki’s tongue reeled back into his mouth, pulling them up even faster than they could have gone without it.

Sunshine watched her feet fly out in front of her as she lost her grip on the green warrior’s shoulders. Spinning through the air, she saw Darksmith Manor, then the sky, then the forest she had spent her afternoon in, then the ground, then... the ground. Still the ground. Getting closer.

Sunshine flung her arms around her head as the ground came uncomfortably close. But before it had a chance to become uncomfortably painful, things got uncomfortably soggy. Sunshine opened her eyes. Looking down, she saw the ground, fortunately, not getting any closer. Then looking up, Sunshine saw Frokki, standing on the edge of the roof, his tongue back out. This time it was wrapped around her feet, unfortunately, getting much soggier.

Frokki pulled her up to the roof, helping her get to her drool-covered feet. After reeling in his tongue, he pointed down at her shoes, drenched in saliva. Sticky good. Sunshine no fall off.

Just then, another explosion shook Darksmith Manor. And sure enough, Sunshine’s shoes helped keep her stuck to the steep-sided roof. Come on! Sunshine shouted, Let’s get to the other side!

Sunshine moved the goober off from where it had latched onto her shirt and began to rush across the roof, feeling safe from falling off with her new and improved shoes. The sprint lasted only two steps.

Oh, boy, Sunshine grunted, feeling like she was walking through mud. Too sticky. The slime from her shoes stretched from foot to shingle, barely allowing Sunshine to move at all.

Sticky get dry, Frokki croaked, pulling at Sunshine’s feet. Sticky got stucky.

Pull as hard as you can, Sunshine pleaded. We’ve got to hurry in case somebody needs our help.

Frokki bent down. We get this, he said as he wrapped his arms around her legs. Hang on tight.

Sunshine looked around, but there was nothing to hang on to. She felt Frokki squeeze her legs tighter.

Sunshine’s heart jumped as another explosion shook the world around her. She hadn’t even noticed that Frokki had managed to break her free, but now she was in the air, flying toward the back of Darksmith Manor. She was headed right to the edge of the roof and into the black tower of smoke rising up from her new home.

The goober clung to Sunshine as she flapped her arms, trying to stay afloat to keep from plummeting down to the ground below. Then, Sunshine felt something slap against the back of her neck. The splatter of slime let her know Frokki had grabbed her midair with his tongue. She couldn’t see anything through the cloud of smoke but could tell she was now swinging back toward the manor.

Yeouch! Sunshine’s feet slammed against the side of the building. She was standing straight up, but facing straight down, sideways on the manor wall with the stickiness on her feet holding her in place. Frokki’s tongue lashed back, out of sight in the darkness of the smoke.

Okee, little Darksmith? Frokki shouted from atop the roof. On the ground?

Sunshine, trying to balance as her shoes stuck her to the wall, called back, Sort of. I think I can make it!

Sunshine pulled at her feet, trying to get the gummy glop to give way just enough for her to move forward, although not enough to let her fall the rest of the way down the building. Step by step, she made her way down, now moving between the windows of the second story with the dark cloud just above her head. As she made her way closer to the kitchen window, she coughed from the smoke billowing around her. Sunshine could feel the slime begin to loosen up, each step becoming easier than the last. And then, the sticky slime lost its stick.

Whaaazaaa …! Sunshine screamed as her shoes lost their grip on the wall, sending her falling through the smoke and past the kitchen window. Bracing for impact just before her descent came to a bone-crunching end, Sunshine squeezed the goober against her head and held her breath. Splat. It was not the "thud" she had expected.

Sunshine lay on the ground beneath the billowing tower of smoke. Plucking the goober off of her face, she saw that she was now drenched in a thick, green, syrupy ooze and covered in brown chunks of something that smelled like sweet, but rotten, bacon.

Why does everything have to be so slimy today? Sunshine cringed as she picked herself up. After this, I’m making a robot. No slime, no gunk, just wires and metal and …

Something or someone screeched inside the house.

I’m coming! Sunshine shouted as she ran toward the back door of the kitchen, wiping the pungent muck off of her shirt. She swung open the door and tried to see into the dark room. Falling to her knees, she crawled beneath the smoke, her hands slipping through slush on the ground.

She could make out something in the shadows. Tiny lights blinked on and off at random on a machine in the center of the room, right where the breakfast table ought to be.

So much for the urge to work on robots today.

All of a sudden, flames accompanied by an earsplitting explosion shot out from the machine. The kitchen table was flipped on its side, barricading the doorway to the grand dining hall. Brown chunks and green slime, like those covering her clothes, were splattered on the walls and floor. And there in the center of the floor was the machine, a wooden barrel lined with blinking lights and a crude face made from blocks of scrap metal. The black smoke that filled the room gushed from the mouth. This barrel-bot must be a creation of Doc Bratenlager’s, the head mad scientist of Darksmith Manor. But Doc would never rush through making one of his robots and let it go haywire like this without good reason.

Sunshine rushed toward the machine, hoping she could make it before another explosion of fire