Depthsroot Chapter 4; The Grand Panda

Spoiler:

"I Suppose My Services And Guidance Are Once Again Necessary? Certainly, You Haven't Been COMPLETELY Left Out In The Cold, Dark, Lonely Wilderness. You Do Have A Merciful God."


"My Humble Suggestion, Take It Or Leave It, Is To Throw Yourselves At The Mercy Of The Lord God, Who Is Most Merciful, With A Strong Right Hand. Confess, Repent And Relinquish Yourselves, And Your Sins Along With You. They Seem To Be A Bit Too Much To Handle."


... "Are My Boys Ready, Or Are You Still Playing Children's Games? If You're Ready For The Old One-Two, Let's Set Up The Pieces And Make Some Marks. Deadlines To Make, And All."

Spoiler:

As time went on, the Grand Panda accomplished many great works underground and made a name for himself as the 'Earth God' of the Veritas with the 'Legend Of The Earth God' as the Lore of the Underground within the Depthsroot of how he came to be, why he is protecting them and why he is the boss and God of this realm including the world above the underground.

Eventually, after much notoriety and very little exposure, people began to attempt to copy the Grand Panda by impersonating him or replicating his image and design without the substance of what made the Grand Panda so. They tried to use his name and also to gain notoriety for themselves based on his credentials.

Eventually the Grand Panda revealed that he was the Phantom of olde, and no one knew who nor what the Phantom was -- only the original Grand Panda knew of his own history as 'The Phantom' and what 'The Phantom' meant to the Veritas, especially in the Depthsroot and the Dusk, though the Depthsroot Residents knew very little about the Phantom and the days that he roamed the Veritas in secret and undercover, ruling from the shadows as the Shadow of the Dusk. The Grand Panda left an account of himself, how he came to be as well as his history as 'The Phantom,' which is in his personal notes called 'Hand Of Fate.' Though the Grand Panda did many things in secret, suffered full blown identity theft from someone claiming to be the Grand Panda as well as the Phantom and also has some incriminating secrets about his history as well as his relations, all of the records of his rise, his history and his personal information are within his 'Hand Of Fate; The Phantom's Corner.'

Thus, the name of the Grand Panda would carry the 'Legend of The Phantom' along with it.

The Dark Network was a rebel action of the Veritas that initially was formed as rogue units of the Phantoms that banded together after the original leader -- The Phantom, Khrona Tensei -- defected from the Dusk Village before it became a large nation of its own. These members of the Phantoms went into hiding during the transition from the Lost World and lived underground in the Depthsroot, awaiting their time to reveal themselves. They were not under the name of 'The Dark Network' yet, but existed as the first organized group to be considered such based on their vigilante behavior and rogue operation in the underground without the Phantoms of the Dusk knowing any better.

Now, the Dark Network that was formally established came from the $yndicate; the Veritas' Elite Order. This order of the $yndicate harbored many of the darker secrets of the Veritas, the $yndicate and the Trunade, and were actually manned by the very God of the Veritas, himself and the original Phantom -- Khrona Tensei (A.K.A. Tymon Bolton). They carried out secret operations and kept the history of the Veritas and Khrona safe, and now they are under The Phantom as the Grand Panda in terms of operation in order to protect the Phantom's Legend and Legacy that was established through Khrona Tensei during the time of the Dusk Village. Eventually, the two factions of the 'Dark Network' -- the rightly established $yndicate and the covertly established Phantoms -- came together under The Phantom and the Grand Panda in the Depthsroot after the refugees from the 7th Moon and from Hell were gathered to the safety of the underground village of the Depthsroot, which they became the law and government of (since there was none underground). Under the Grand Panda -- whom they understood is the Phantom and Khrona Tensei (Tymon) -- the Dark Network thrived and kept the Depthsroot in order, helping to reconstruct the land after the damages and distribute information properly among them both publicly and privately in order to establish the DSF and VEO in the nether regions of the Veritas; that which had never been done before, since few ventured to the Depthsroot at all unless they already lived there previously or got lost.

Even so, due to the nature of the defect, rogue, renegade, runaway, vagabond and vigilante members of both the Phantoms and the $yndicate being brought together in the Dark Network, there came issues in terms of authority, leadership, regulation, obedience and operation, and sometimes this resulted in both conflict and disrespect, both from the people and in the ranks. There came times even when they did not respect the original The Phantom nor his alias as the Grand Panda, or his position as a public official -- Ophiuchus (Shinrona) -- nor his casual self, Tomon. They knew all were the one Khrona Tensei, but because of the history of the Lost World and certain grudges or quests for vengeance, they saw opportunities to sabotage him, damage him, disrupt him or defame him in order to steal his glory and took them, as if things were still as they were in the days of the Lost World. This animosity stirred both the Grand Panda, himself, and the community, which led to more strict methods of dealing with them via assertion of power and love of the community just to establish dominance more securely among them.

Despite all of the threats of their God, King and Ruler under his various names and titles, there was still a rebellion against him in his own faction that ended up causing turbulence in the community that almost drove the Depthsroot to turn against their God-King. Though they were aware of his aliases and that he was ultimately the same person despite his difference appearances, dynamics, fashion and persona for whatever occasion there was, they still did not fully accept nor respect him completely initially during their introduction to his ways, laws, policies and government -- mostly because the ones who were trusted to carry out his will and way were the very same people of the Dark Network bearing grudges, seeking vengeance for the past and sabotaging his work plus tarnishing his image.

He went into hiding underground -- deeper in the Depthsroot than any knew, for he was the God and Creator of the -entire- Veritas, even over just the Depthsroot. Though the Depthsroot Residents were more or less ignorant to the full scale of their God's rule over the land (since they had never seen anything of the Veritas beyond the Depthsroot), they did not understand why he was doing the things he did nor what made his own legion turn against him. The community remained conflicted for a time during the resolution, but basic civil order was maintained and the reconstruction as well as gentrification did not cease during the time of his rule, though they rarely saw him. Khrona Tensei had taken on his more casual form -- Tomon -- and slipped in with the commonfolk in order to blend in with them, learn more about them and try to relate to them at a level where they were comfortable. Some knew who he was and others mistook him for someone else, but regardless of that fact, as long as the Dark Network, his own unit, was against him, then the people remained skeptical. Bits and pieces of his past came up and were leaked out, yet with it came also the history of the Veritas and the Depths village before it became the Depthsroot, plus about the reasons why the Dark Network -- Phantoms and $yndicate members alike -- were seeking vengeance. After the outing of the private, personal and past history of the members of the Dark Network, even up to the Trunade, the people became more understanding about their God-King and were sympathetic, even compassionate toward him. Yet, as Tomon, Khrona was still troubled in his heart about the deception from his former associates and what they sought to do to him.

As Tomon, Khrona told the people of the Depthsroot many things; he shared personal secrets with them, his own background and history and things that were going on the Veritas. Things that people kept secret from others were revealed and the secrets of the society were brought to the light in order to administer justice and to balance the light and darkness in the land. He reclaimed the hearts of the people in this way, yet he, himself, remained somewhat crestfallen at both their behavior and the means of deception, as well as how much work had to be put into telling them the truth and getting out the misinformation that was distributed among them already. Plenty had trouble believing it, but between his several forms he took on within the Depthsroot -- Tomon, the Phantom, the Grand Panda and Shinrona -- as well as all of the good things he did faithfully for them to restore the community and keep the peace with love, the whole nation of the Depthsroot submit to the wisdom and power of Khrona Tensei.

As Tomon, Khrona revealed to them his true name -- Tymon Nikia Bolton II, God Lord God of the Veritas -- and they began to recognize his names, aliases and spirits, such as the Phantom and the Grand Panda. Soon enough after revealing his true identity and linking together all of the aspects of his identity through Khrona Tensei, the Phantom, the Grand Panda, the Grand Golem and Ophiuchus (Shinrona), Tomon (Tymon) restored his own glory and image in the Depthsroot and remained there as the God-King, Shinrona Tensei, and reigned over them as David and Solomon had done over the earth in their day.

Yet, in spite of this, Tymon as Tomon had personal issues going on in his love interest, Tsuki, who was like him as a female and also had history with him in relationships plus knowledge of Khrona Tensei and the Phantom. She was displeased about being left in the dark as well as their lack of ability to be together, and therefore this caused personal issues that Tymon had to deal with a Tomon, then deal with his government as the Grand Panda whilst also still ruling over the kingdom of the Depthsroot as Ophiuchus, and all under his alter ego 'Khrona Tensei', because this was the name that they were accustomed to before learning that Khrona's true name was Tymon.

Now, Tomon and Tsuki dealt with their personal love matters in private; out of the public eye. Even so, there were particular people who were ousted from the Dark Network that still had it out for Khrona and knew that as Tomon, he was weaker and more vulnerable than when he was Shinrona. They sought to ambush him whilst he was with his sweetheart and cause discord between the two of them whilst the relationship was rocky so that they would split up and they could damage Tomon whilst he was wallowing. This ended in a fight between Tsuki & Tomon, but also between both Tsuki & Tomon together against the rebels of the Dark Network.

*Dark Network Interruption*


*Challenge From Dark Network*


*Analysis Of Dark Network*


*Mind-Lock Dark Network*

Spoiler:

With the defects of the Dark Network handled, Tomon and Tsuki bonded together again over the victory they shared together. It was at that time that Tomon confessed his love and the secret about Tsuki and his own ability to transform into a female version of himself -- which was what Tsuki was. When she found out that she was an extension of his being that he could take from himself and also transform into at any given time, plus already knew, she was shocked to the point of an identity crisis. The only saving grace she had was that when he was not taking on a female form or dividing himself from male and female forms was that with her, she had the Spirit of Friday inside of her that made her unique and independent from him unless the Spirit of Friday was gone. He explained to her how she was a vessel, like he was, and that originally they were one androgynous being and only he retained memories of it because her original body was destroyed and he had the power to create a new body because of his 'Anatomia' abilities that dealt with DNA and Cell manipulation. Though her flesh belonged to him, as long as Friday was inside of her, then she was her own person and not just an extension of him -- as is what Friday always wanted. He could easily merge her flesh back with his anytime he felt like because it literally was originally his flesh and he did forge her into an image that was more suitable for his taste, since her original body was destroyed, but he salvaged her memories and Friday used her as a vessel in the same fashion that Khrona did with Tomon.

And so, the two were at peace, and their love flourished.

Once the love issues between Tomon and Tsuki were resolved, Tomon had enough spirit again to ascend to his greater power -- Shinrona -- and return to his seat of power and glory over the Depthsroot to proclaim the defeat of the corrupt ones of the Dark Network. He proclaimed them traitors and labeled their named -- Carl, Sam, Steve and Sally -- in the Depthsroot so that all would know that they were the ones who committed treason against the people. This created a great uproar in the Depthsroot, and because of it, the Grand Golem that was created to watch over them had to keep them settled in order for their God-King, Shinrona (or, Ophiuchus) to speak to them again about what to do about the matters.

After the Depthsroot Residents learned about the history of those who knew their God-King as 'Khrona Tensei' and as 'The Phantom' and why they were related through the secret group 'The Phantoms' as well as personally through the account of the Lost World, they were more than happy to help their God-King with whatever matters came up in order to purge the wicked people from their government and also out of their city. They remembered when the very same people who were saying they knew him (Carl, Sam, Steve and Sally) were the ones trying to rally up the people against him, and they were displeased to find out that this was all based on a petty grudge.

Because of this, they were not only willing to help their Lord and savior, but they were also willing to totally riot against anyone who was against them or that caused anymore disturbance in the town, especially when the very first thing that happened to them which triggered all of this was that a giant monster destroyed their homes and he, their God-King, awakened in his 'Earth God' form in order to stop it. They were eternally grateful and indebted to him, though their original ignorance of who he was and who was sabotaging him kept them from feeling their gratitude initially. Thus, those rogue members of the Dark Network would certainly be banished or put to death.

However, there was more to this issue that meets the eye; those who knew of Shinrona as Khrona also had knowledge of how to make their own villages, as well, and began to make other towns way off in the parts of the Depthsroot that were darkest and uninhabitable or inhospitable. With their new powers, they could take care of themselves, and because of that, creating their own society in spite of the one that already existed for vengeful purposes was not very difficult at all.

And so, before long, there was war throughout the Depthsroot.

It was the first and only war of the underground between the underground, and something that the Veritas both needed and would inevitably come to due to the circumstances of how it came into existence and what was brought into it over time or since it came to be. There was no way to avoid the animosity of those who had any type of memory or experience in the Lost World prior to the return to isolation that this reality had initially been born, since they'd spent all of their days on the Lost World after the Reality merged together with that planet. Though it had been merged all that time (yet still was not exactly the longest period of time), the people who had grown accustomed to the planet were attached to their old ways and the relatively lawless nature of the Lost World, and so remained hostile once the Veritas returned to being an independent reality and isolated dimension.

Even though the rebels fought hard for what they believed in, and most of that was just vengeance and unwarranted hostility for rather frugal and futile things, the righteous ones who belonged to the Depthsroot and served their God-King Ophiuchus well completely outnumbered and overpowered them during their establishment of their rebel cities, towns and villages. They were too small and too few in number, and splitting themselves up divided their power because they were spread too thin, making the conquest for the Depthsroot Residents simple and effective.

In spite of this, God-King Ophiuchus saw something within the Depthsroot Residents and in the Veritas that he never thought he would see, and even though he knew that this was inspired by Foreigners, Otherworlders and those who were Lost or from the Past, it still did happen. It opened his eyes to many things and he realized that he was going to need to govern the surface land more intricately, though no problems arose like this. For the sake of safety precautions, he took it into account and began to formulate ways to prevent things such as this from happening on the surface.

Whilst still governing the underground, however, Ophiuchus realized that he would need to have the Depthsroot Residents see the surface and know how to get there instead of leave them in the dark. Therefore, he would have to migrate them up to the outer layers and show them the way to and from. He explained this to them, as well as how there were greater resources and facilities that they could do trade with and inevitably connect to in network and market in order to grow their economy -- which had been relatively sheltered due to the lack of exposure to the overworld. As such, he took on the Spirit of the Earth God and once again assumed his role as the Grand Panda, who was God of Earth and Ruler of the Underground. Those who were part of the $yndicate and the Phantoms would also be able to spread the government and law throughout these parts of the Veritas that were not secure yet (as is what had been going on subtly the entire time). Whereas the Dark Network would remain underground in the Depthsroot, factions of them would be spread along the surface and the paths to the surface in order for the Depthsroot Residents and all the Dark Network members to be able to come to and from the surface and the underground as well as establish trails, roads, laws, security and oversight of the paths and sources all throughout.

The Underground Village would finally see the Light, thanks to Shinrona Tensei, their God-King, and was saved once again by his Spirit as the Earth God; The Grand Panda. Thus began the Great Migration of the Underground Village, Depthsroot.