Ep. 47: The Eleventh Hour - Chapter Seven

"I hope these boys never find my journal... my LIVEjournal, that is! Unless you want to hear all about My Chemical Romance! It's The Adventure Zone!"

Synopsis
''With a fairly rowdy loop behind them, our heroes come face-to-face with divinity, and try their darndest not to make complete asses of themselves. With the Big Clock winding down and their prize in sight, can Tres Horny Boys save the day -- or, at least, one of the days? Merle goes deity shopping. Magnus takes a Chance. Taako lends a hand.''

The Tres Horny Boys have just successfully broken into Refuge's bank vault, where they found Sheriff Isaak's journal. Inside this journal, they learned that Isaak killed Jack after falling under the Temporal Chalice's thrall, that June has it currently and is somewhere in the mines, and that Roswell was created by Jack. Most importantly, they've learned that Roswell's command word is "Junebug", which Magnus plans on putting to good use. Nevermind. Anyways, it's 11:53 and the boys' and Roswell are still in the bank. Redmond and one of his minions walk in holding a lockbox containing the bomb they were originally going to use to open the vault, and he asks them what the vault contained. Redmond sends the minion to investigate the vault and Magnus tells him that they're low on time and need to get him to his brother, Luca, so they can enter the Temple of Istus. Redmond asks for them to wait fifteen minutes, but Magnus isn't having it and commands Roswell to fireman-carry him out of the bank.

It is now 11:55, meaning the boys' have only five minutes to get to Istus's temple. Magnus and Redmond take Roswell's horse, Horsey, while Taako casts Phantom Steed and summons forth Garyl for him and Merle to ride on.

The gang manages to get to Luca's cave by 11:57, and the two brothers are reunited. Redmond explains to Luca, who has forgotten the conversation from the last loop, that the boys need their help getting to Istus, and the group sprints the short distance to Istus's temple. The time is now 11:59. Redmond lays out a mat in front of the temple for them to kneel on and the two brothers begin a prayer.

As soon as "raise the temple" is said, the temple begins to de-age and repair itself. Just as it soon as it finishes fixing itself, the clock tower chimes and from their vantage point the boys' see Refuge begin to buckle and collapse. The double doors of the temple swing open and the group rushes in just as everything in Refuge starts to explode. Once inside, the boys' look behind to see that everything outside the temple is frozen in place. Inside the temple are rows of pews lining an aisle leading up to a fairly humble pulpit. Behind that is a tapestry showing a city of happy, busy people all nestled in the embrace of a beautiful woman with long, flowing, white hair.

The goddess looks up from the scarf she is knitting on the steps to the pulpit and says, Being the one with the most experience when it comes to communicating with divine beings, Merle offers to talk to Istus first. Magnus and Taako immediately regret this decision. Istus giggles at Merle's compliment and explains that she doesn't blame the boys' for not recognizing her right, as she is one of the older but lesser worshipped gods, as it's hard to get behind a goddess who’s all about enforcing the whims of fate when the whims of fate deliver nothing but mass destruction upon them. Istus beckons the three of them to sit down in the front row of pews and she explains to them that the town of Refuge is sick because the whims of fate are not being obeyed and the constant time loops. She also reveals that the boys' will die permanently if they don't escape the loop soon and that the reason they can remember other time loops is that either the holder of the Temporal Chalice or the Chalice itself is allowing them to.

Istus reaches into her white tunic and pulls out a small pair of scissors which she uses to cut a loose string out of the scarf that she’s knitting, which does in a vaguely intimidating way. Istus explains to the boys' that they are special as they are the only three people that constantly stop the attempts of those would defy fate in all the countless timelines and universes that Istus has observed.Istus asks the boy to be her emissaries in this world, which entails them to keep doing what they have been currently doing, which is standing in the way of forces that want to reshape creation in their image, following their will and not the will of fate. All of the boys' agree to this alliance, but Merle only under the condition that he still be allowed to worship Pan, who, luckily, Istus is best pals with. With everyone on board, Istus pulls out a new color of thread from her tunic and knits it into a never-ending scarf that stretches all way into another plane. Istus knits three new threads

Featured NPCs

 * Istus
 * June
 * Luca
 * Redmond
 * Roswell
 * Sheriff Isaak

Featured Music

 * The Temple of Istus
 * The Diary of Sheriff Isaak

Featured Locations

 * Refuge
 * Woven Gulch