Zone Fortress

Zone Fortress is Zone's personal house and location. It's purpose is provide shelter for Zone and where he composes his music. It is also home to the artifical Amulet of Deception and the dew of The Two Trees Zone siphoned from The Silmarils. Due to some areas of the fortress proving to be quite confusing, along with traps hidden at every turn it is obvious that Zone doesn't want any guests at his castle.

Interesting facts about Zone Fortress would be the transparent stairs and that if one was to take a wrong turn they would automatically teleport and be whisked off as far away from Zone Fortress as possible. Penguins sneaking into Zone Fortress have reported that they took a wrong turn on the third floor and ended up in Eastshield. Others say they ended up at South Pole City on the first floor.

The high protection seems very suspicious, especially for the Deception Amulet and the dew from The Two Trees. Whether or not Zone is keen on protecting his newly acquired artefacts or that there may be something far greater of his interests in the fortress is a mystery. The only known facts so far are that the Deception Amulet and The Two Trees dew is hidden in there, as well as Zone's appetite for composing music.

Some theories about the fortress would be about some of the markings appeared in it. The exterior of the fortress has two orange vortexes painted on the left and right side. Other markings would be the same strange mark that appears above the door entrance to the 3rd floor, on the ground of the 3rd floor, and above the door entrance leading to Zone's Chamber and the 5th floor. Zone himself has been questioned about the markings, but has answered with a response of; "That's not for you to know", which rises even more suspicion that these markings may mean something a lot more then just ornaments.

Background
Zone Fortress was a gift Nightmare gave to Zone after noticing his extreme loyalty to him and the items he possessed under the condition that X-Antibodies could garrison in there. Zone, while reluctant at first, agreed to this condition. The fortress began construction on the Darktonian Realm, to which Nightmare began questioning Zone's interest of building it there since Darktonian Forces are under strict orders to attack any X-Antibody or anything affiliating with the Dark Lord Nightmare on sight. Zone simply replied that an average living would be boring to him, and that he always wanted a few pets - even if it was an army of pets.

Nightmare concocted his magic around the fortress to ensure protection, and ordered X-Antibodies to help erect the fortress. The stairs were coated with X-Virus mixture, giving it an ethereal and transparent look. This was put solely in place so that if an X-Antibody went into Zone Fortress, they would draw strength from the stairs. Penguins and other organisms not infected with the X-Virus will be diagnosed with it once their feet touch the stairs. Zone, due to his X-Virus and Doom Weed hybrid structure, receives no effect from walking on the clear, disease-laced stairs.

Originally, Nightmare and Zone both planned for quick and easy teleportation from the fortress to other places beyond. However, due to the possibility of invaders they both decided to make a labyrinth out of certain floors. High ranked X-Antibodies such as Lizlord and Darktan X know the correct route to take to reach higher floors, but lower ranked ones do not due to trust factor. However, the teleportation matrix in floors can be wired to teleport X-Antibodies anywhere Nightmare desires - all X-Antibodies in the fortress are commanded to take a direct route if Nightmare needs reinforcements in other places.

Fortress Attacks and Sieges
Since the location of Zone Fortress is in the Darktonian Realm, infested with Darktan and his forces which oppose Nightmare, one may think purposely building a fortress housing X-Antibodies on Darktan's land is insane. However, unlike most armies who would plan their attack, Zone charges head-on at his enemy with absolute no thought and remorse about the repercussions of his actions.

Darktan sent both Herbert and Herbert Horror as messengers to find out what Zone was up to. As soon as Zone found out about this, he hatched a plan and when the two messengers arrived he sent them back to Darktan quietly ticking away, with Zone watching what will happen with a smirk of triumph.

When Herbert and Herbert Horror returned to their master, Herbert Horror felt the sudden urge to give Darktan a wedgie. Darktan, screeching in pain, knew it was obvious that Zone had used his Entrance technique on Herbert Horror. The real Herbert was not under this influence, but he was under much worse since he walked up the stairs to Zone's chamber and became diagnosed with the X-Virus. A few days later, Herbert X was spawned.

Darktan, enraged about the wedgie incident and oblivious about Herbert's infection at the time, launched an attack on Zone Fortress. Unknown to Darktan, it turns out that Zone had wanted him to attack all along. Though the Darktonian Forces were held off, many of them ventured into Zone Fortress. The result was the birth of many X-Creatures such as Darktan X, MectriXctic, and more.

Map
Zone Fortress has five floors in total, some are very straight-forward while others are a twisted maze of stairs.

First Floor
When you enter the fortress, you will start off at this floor. There are three flights of stairs here; one of them will take you to the second floor, while the other two will teleport you to a random location. The atmosphere in this floor is murky purple and a dark presence lingers in this floor. Due to the atmosphere, the stairs glow with a bright purple layer.

Interestingly, Nightmare will manifest here if she needs to address minions personally. It's a rare occasion that she does though.

Second Floor
The winter chill of the Antarctic climate decimates igloos and homes, consuming them in its icy grip; Zone Fortress is no exception. Icicles, along with numerous other stalactites and stalacmites linger above the ceiling and are accompanied by the sleet on the stairs. This floor is very dangerous as the icicles hanging above you tend to fall down at unpredictable times, plus the stairs are extremely slippery due to the sleet.

There's a strange mark above the door that leads you to the third floor, which is one of these marks that have sparked controversy about the fortress in the public eye and media.

Third Floor
The third floor's billowing atmosphere seems to contain storm clouds, and loud roaring cracks of thunder and lightning appear often. Trekking down the stairs from the previous floor, you will come across a platform with the same mark above the door from the previous floor. From here, there are two ladders. One path will lead to the fourth floor while the other will teleport you somewhere else.

It should be noted that the ladders contain a white glow because due to the stormy atmosphere, the ladders have actually served as a lightning conductor and it will send a shock down your spine if you touch them. Despite that and making your hair turn into an afro, the ladders are relatively harmless.

Fourth Floor
The second floor was meek compared to the fourth floor. Due to the fact that at the fourth floor you are at a very high altitude in the fortress, it starts to get extremely cold. The Antarctic winds howl through this floor and the icy hands of the South Pole grip this floor tightly. Almost the whole entire floor is lathered with ice and sleet. The only form of warmth in this floor is the two braziers that station the stairs.

Be very careful in this floor though; icicles will fall faster and more rapid than the ones faced in the second floor. The golden-glowing stairs will take you up to a huge door with the same strange mark above the door that was seen in the previous floors. Going into this door will lead you into the final floor, and Zone's Chamber.

Final Floor (Downstairs)
thumb|75px|left|The music heard playing in the Final Floor The 5th and final floor of Zone Fortress is where Zone himself situates. His eerie music played from his organ echoes throughout the whole floor. The organ has an interesting architecture, with what looks like Zone's wings at the top of the organ. The keys are also outlined in the shape of the frilly garments on Zone's tuxedo.

The yellow sphere, while it looks like a simple ornament, houses both the Amulet of Deception and the dew from The Two Trees. Only by sucessfully playing the piece of music Zone plays throughout the fortress will the sphere unlock itself and reveal its prizes. However, since Zone is usually either here or in his chamber, it is not likely that he will give up those treasures that easily.

Final Floor (Zone's Chamber)
Following the blue glowing stairs behind the organ, you will venture upstairs to the very top of the fortress. This area is Zone's throne room and observation deck due to it being the top of the looming tower. Nightmare manifests here frequently if she only wants to address Zone herself and not the other minions. Very few have ventured to Zone's Chamber; Darktan was one of the few when he launched a siege attack on the fortress.

Anyone that enters the fortress will be immediately noticed by Zone if he is located up here. Zone's Chamber is truly the stage set for the final confrontation against him and the reformed Darktan.

Places
Many interesting secret areas are located in Zone Fortress. For example, if one were to hit the strange mark above the door entrance to Zone's Chamber they would be teleported straight to Nightmare's Base. Other secrets, such as hidden coins and treasures are also located here - though the seeker would have to look hard.

Another interesting secret is that when Zone or anyone else plays certain keys on his organ, a trap will be sprung in one of the designated floors. Reported organ-triggered traps are the icy stairs breaking apart in the second and fourth floors, and lightning striking the ladders at full blast on the third floor.

Inhabitants

 * Zone
 * Lizlord on some occasions
 * Nightmare on some occasions
 * Herbert X
 * MectriXctic
 * Several other X-Antibodies

Villains
Only the evil X-Antibodies are allowed in Zone Fortress. Any antibody under the neutral or good category is not allowed entry, with the exception of MectriXctic, who keeps her neutrality a secret.

Resources
Resources in Zone Fortress are a place to rest and a safe haven for X-Antibodies lurking around the Darktonian Realm. Food is plentiful in the fortress and antibodies usually converge to eat on the first floor since it is the least dangerous. However, some antibodies like the cold and eat on the second floor.

For entertainent, antibodies may listen to Zone's musical pieces.

Trivia

 * Penguins and creatures that already have had the X-Virus won't be affected by the stairs.
 * Zone Fortress was built under several architectural designs from Castle Bugzy
 * Zone Fortress resembles a level (or rather a series of levels) that one would play through in Snowtendo-made video games.
 * The reason Zone Fortress has a cold, windy atmosphere is that it is located in one of eleven so-called "Spill Zones", spots near South Pole City where cold air literally spills over the Trans-Antarctic mountains and turns into rushing katabatic winds that stream downhill towards Eastshield.
 * Kwiksilver, a backpacker who claims to have explored to the ends of Antarctica, only visited Zone Fortress once in the Nightmare Epic. He later stated that it was "one of the strangest and creepiest places I've ever been."