Shadowchasers: Colors of Madness
is a Shadowchasers Series fanfic by Scarlet Weather.
Unlike many other Shadowchaser stories, instead of a group dealing with a threat to their city, Jalal sends a team of specialists (dubbed 'The Color Guard') to the island resort/theme-park paradise known as Pleasureland. This wondrous place has shown a recent spike in arrivals of Shadowkind from their home dimension and given the uncertainty just surrounding why and how the force responsible is transporting Shadowkind like this, an investigation is paramount to gaining any clues.
Despite a rocky initial briefing, the team groups together and heads off to Pleasureland to do their investigation, thinking it to be only a simple mission. What Could Possibly Go Wrong??
Apparently one of them pissed off Larry Niven, because the moment they arrive, the island is flooded with unholy light. Only a quick-thinking use of a barrier saves them, but leaves them trapped for nearly a full day. When it finally drops, the once fanciful island has become a carnival of terror and nightmares. The Color Guard is trapped on island, unable to communicate with the outside world and stuck with their very limited resources while whatever remained of the island's populace has become zombies-including the crew of the boat they came in on. And then it went From Bad to Worse.
The light that appeared was the work of the Priests of Light, dedicated to the Glorious One and the Light. Armed with unholy powers and fanaticism, the Priests are going to turn the island into a mass sacrifice to their deity...and the Color Guard will make a tempting appetizer.
And oh, there's some kind of Humanoid Abomination that even the Priests are afraid of running around as well...
Shadowchasers: Colors of Madness contains examples of:
- Body Horror: The Priest's spell turned most of the island's populace into flesh-eating zombies, who turned on one another almost immediately. And despite tearing hunks out of each other, nothing short of breaking their necks or decapitation will stop them from coming.
- Closed Circle: A powerful barrier generated by the Priests keeps the Guard from leaving and severs all communications with the outside world.
- Creepy Child: The brief appearance of Maria in the third chapter seems to have this as her 'base form.' Given what is known about her parents and herself twenty years down the road, definitely seemed to have been caused by Break the Cutie.
- Foregone Conclusion: Maria Temorline and Thaddeus Kleig are already confirmed to survive the events of this fic, as they both make an appearance in Shadowchasers: Twice-Told Tales, which takes place several years after this fic. Not too mention the former also appears in Shadowchasers: Backwater.
-
Genius Bonus: The author include shout-outs in each chapter and while some are obvious, others require Google to guess at what they are. - Light Is Not Good: The cultists have a definite Light theme to them, and the "Glorious One" they worship is actually the Light of Ruin, although it is not clear just how many of them know that.
- Night of the Living Mooks: The zombies on the island don't target the Priests and while we haven't seen one order the undead around yet, its pretty obvious the Color Guard is the only thing on the menu for the zombies.
- Ominous Fog: The Priest's spell has covered the island in this.
- Psychological Horror: What the story is definitely aiming for.
- Religion of Evil: The Priests and their Glorious One definitely qualify.
- Religion is Magic: The Priests possess unearthly powers, ranging from regenerating instantly fatal wounds to glowing fists that vaporize a large chunk of whatever they strike. All granted by their faith.
- Survival Horror: Given how they're trapped on an island where everything is out to kill them and no one knows what 'everything' encompasses, definitely falls into this.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The Color Guard's members have severely clashing personalities, most particularly with Harley and Gideon.
