Volkonir: Rise of Semaphry

Volkonir: Rise of Semaphry is a novel and film pitch in the works as of April of 2015 via Dozerfleet Comics, as an epilogue adventure for the titular Volkonir and Semaphry characters. It is intended to be a caper in which the heroes must save a friend from the Death Master File whilst recovering an old ally and outwitting the Gwirdons in their latest diabolical scheme.

Plot
Vinny wakes up in his apartment to discover Kayla asleep on the couch. He kisses her awake, and reminds her that she should not stay up so late. He warns her that the others will start asking questions about how much time they spend together. Kayla complains that they won't be able to keep it a secret from Hanom forever that the two of them are dating - in spite his having issues with his employees dating each other. She apologizes for "letting things get out of hand" a few weeks back, and that it wasn't fair to Vinny to make him make compromises. He assures her that things will get better; but tells her they should take things slow. He doesn't want to destroy their friendship - nor her job - by them rushing love.

The two of them get a call to come in to Dr. Fred Hanom's office, in spite it being Kayla's day off. They try their hardest to pretend they're not in the same building together. Hanom alerts them that he has urgent news. Carlos, already there, begins tracking a signal on a screen of an unusual energy pulse emanating from Yellowstone. Hanom argues that it's more than likely Cortascian. Vinny and Kayla arrive and are shocked to learn from Vinny's observation that the signal spike is of the Crystal Swan of Cortascius. This implies that Silnya Semaphry, the warrior who trained Volkonir on Cortascius to wield the Golden Lion and become the defender of Morzhuk's realm, might still be alive. However, finding her would require a trip to Yellowstone. Vinny and Kayla would have to explore an area of the park that is off limits to the public, endangering themselves. Hanom promises to make arrangements in case they get caught by park rangers instead of Gwirmalesh's forces.

A paper falls out of one of Hanom's folders, with a picture of an old rival of his named Terrence Hoshijo on it. Kayla immediately acts perplexed by the image, and announces that Hoshijo was the man responsible for the death of her daughter a few years earlier. Vinny asks for an explanation, as he didn't know Kayla used to have a family before him. She promises to tell him the story later. Hanom informs the other three of how the rivalry between them began, and warns that Hoshijo might still be out for revenge. His picture was in the folder because an alert had gone out that he was missing.

Inside of King Gwirmalesh's lair, Gwirdon treaders hand a tied-up Hoshijo to Gwirmalesh. A Gwirdon leader explains that Hoshijo vanished from the Social Security office in Washington specifically requesting Gwirmalesh by name. Gwirmalesh finishes explaining his plans for his new monster: Diabloq. He then insists Hoshijo be untied so that he may hear Hoshijo's proposal. Hoshijo at first explains that he has found a way to turn the government against Volkonir and his friends. He elaborates that friends of his in other government agencies have been spying on the area near Gwirmalesh's lair, and know both about Gwirmalesh and about Team Volkonir.

The two villains plot to take over Washington - after first ensuring that the government has totally turned against Volkonir and his friends. Diabloq is sent to Yellowstone to ambush Volkonir, anticipating he'll try to find Silnya. Hanom attempts to buy some more staples online, but gets a notice that his cards have all been hotflagged.

(To be continued...)

Characters

 * Vinny Mason / Volkonir: The Cortascian prince and last heir to King Morzhuk. Trapped in a toy for 400 years, he was finally set free in 2008.  Since then, he has sought to find a way to blend in with Earth culture following the destruction of his homeworld.  Now, he and Kayla have a secret relationship.  Vinny possesses the Golden Lion of Cortascius mogriffer, which gives him powered armor and allows him to wield the magical sword known as Selshon.  It was his failure to protect the Candle of Hope that led to his original downfall in battle, and inability to ward off the wand beam that turned him into a stuffed toy wandering the Earth for centuries.  Growing weary of his personal war, he sees Kayla as an opportunity to find another purpose in life.


 * Kayla Tarington / Semaphry II / She-Volkonir: An office secretary to Dr. Hanom and ally to Volkonir in the fight against Gwirmalesh. She has a troubled past, and is secretly dating Volkonir behind Hanom's back in spite his concerns about professionalism.  As she plans her future, her past comes back to haunt her.


 * Carlos Modi: The clumsy-but-fun Mexican-American drifter through life that first discovered Volkonir in Texas some time after he was freed from the Gwirdon toy spell by Cassie Helm. The two have been like brothers ever since, though he grows suspicious that Vinny and Kayla may be more than just good friends.


 * Dr. Fred Jared Hanom: A rich inventor and scientist with tremendous curiosity about Cortascian history - both on Cortascius and on Earth. His achievements have come at a price, and he's made more enemies than just Gwirmalesh by taking Volkonir in.


 * Silnya Semaphry: A Cortascian female knight and bearer of the Crystal Swan of Cortascius mogriffer. She went missing some time before King Morzhuk's palace was destroyed and the Candle of Hope was extinguished.  Recent energy signals from Yellowstone indicate that she may still be alive.  She was a mentor to a young Prince Volkonir, and actually encouraged him to become the Golden Lion and defend Morzhuk from Gwirmalesh and the Gwirdons.


 * King Gwirmalesh: The evil Gwirdon king and a member of the Gwirdon leader class. Specializing in nearly all forms of Cortascian magic, he once swore to destroy King Morzhuk and wipe Cortascius clean due to the loss of his daughter to a mass murderer named Marzwhatti - who only knew of his daughter's location because of Morzhuk's carelessness with keeping secrets.  After many years in hibernation, he and the Gwirdons have come to Earth to conquer it and to eradicate what remains of Morzhuk's legacy in exile.


 * Terrence Homijo: A rogue office drone at the Social Security Administration that used to be a scientist/inventor along with Hanom. When Hanom did some underhanded things to get all the credit for an invention whilst sabotaging Homijo many years ago, Homijo swore revenge.  He gets it by having Hanom declared a credit zombie, and then joining forces with Gwirmalesh to outlaw Team Volkonir.


 * Diabloq: A Gwirdon leader class that has been modified into Gwirmalesh's latest monster, a devil-like being sent to reactivate Silnya from within her statue imprisonment and use the trap to steal the Golden Lion from Volkonir. When this plan fails, he attempts to go after Kayla.  He is then called back before completing this mission to aid in springing a trap for Team Volkonir in Washington while Homijo and Gwirmalesh plot their takeover.


 * Gwirdon leaders: Higher-up, sophisticated Gwirdons that are almost human - except for their green skin and bug-like faces. Nearly all of them are magical to some degree, giving them some protection in a fight.  They are Gwirdon high society, but are few in number.


 * Gwirdon treaders: Gwirdon foot soldiers, of which they are the majority. They are even more bug-like than their high-society counterparts, often can't speak intelligibly, and are not known to be particularly bright.  However, they are known to be determined fighters.  They make up most of Gwirmalesh's henchmen.  To get around, they rely on the magic transportation of their leaders - Gwirmalesh in particular.  It has been shown that with proper battle training or knowledge of martial arts, a few Gwirdons can be taken on by an ordinary Earth human - without Cortascian powers and with little trouble.