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Post by PJ on Jul 10, 2007 19:36:22 GMT -5
Aaah, quite good. The bit about Dante was certainly interesting; and I like where Akbar's plotline is heading.
Any volunteers for the next piece? If no one wants to do it, it'll probably just be me or Sora.
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Post by Linda Rhaldeen on Jul 11, 2007 13:57:24 GMT -5
I can't write until at least Sunday, as I'm at relatives right now and don't have time, but I wanted to stop by quickly and say that this story is absolutely amazing so far and I love the way it's going.
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Post by PJ on Jul 12, 2007 1:14:09 GMT -5
I can't write until at least Sunday, as I'm at relatives right now and don't have time, but I wanted to stop by quickly and say that this story is absolutely amazing so far and I love the way it's going. If you want to write, or anyone, for that matter, could you please PM either me or Sora first? Cos we've sort of got it partially planned out, and want to make sure that things don't jump off into all sorts of crazy directions and characters get killed that we need later. So yeah, PM us with an outline or something, and we can merge it into what we've got planned, or something.
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Post by Sora on Jul 13, 2007 21:46:03 GMT -5
Between a Rock and A Hard Place
Libitina awoke suddenly from a nap. Which was curious because she rarely rested or even took naps. She was an insomniac, and as her mother frequently reminded her, she was a coffee-acholic. She was never to be seen in her leisure time without a frappachino or juice blend espresso from the local Starbucks. Even now, lying on her slightly stained couch she could see a grande cup with the little mother earth symbol staring up at her. She tried to pick it up, and held it to her lips. She drank it heavily, despite it being stone cold, and felt the surge of caffeine to her brain.
And then suddenly, she felt everything stop.
She was consciously aware of what was going on around her, but she had suddenly lost all her ability to move, and from the 2D view she could get of the ceiling fan above her, the rest of the room seemed to have stopped moving as well. She could sense that she had drifted into invisibility while she was asleep, and was still in the state now, but she had never experienced time having stopped like this before. What on earth was going on?
This question had been in her mind for quite a while, ever since people on 667 had started getting their powers. The first person to get some sort of super-ability had been, surprisingly, Antenora, who had begun to see the dead walking among the passers-by. Not many people had believed her story at first, but after J suddenly began to be able to read people’s minds, and Kyle started to fly by peoples’ homes the truth was undeniable. Libitina was one of the few people who found the whole thing rather disturbing. Abilities? Did it not just scream, evil vs. good? Had no-one ever read a Marvel comic-book? Conflict was unavoidable, and as soon as she had heard of the really cool member killings, she knew it had begun. Later that very same day she had obtained her own ability (in what some would have considered rather farcical; she had been walking in the supermarket when unknown to herself she had turned completely invisible, and caused her fellow shoppers to think that her trolley was haunted. She ended up first in line, and out of the doors in only minutes, which until she realised why, made her very happy.)
Yesterday she had witnessed what could only have been Robert escaping the scene of J’s murder, which made him her top suspect in this whole affair. Later she had seen Pandora, who verified that Robert was acting conspicuous, and had even taken her friend Linda with him after she revealed a vision of a travesty at 667. Things were going downhill, and they were going fast.
She tried to call out, but not even her vocal cords were moving. Internally, she suddenly frowned. If even her vocal cords weren’t working, then why were her hart and lungs still keeping her alive. At that moment she then realised that she could not feel her heart gently bumping inside her, nor could she sense her lungs were filling up with air. Her whole body seemed to be entirely frozen, but some brain conductivity was still continuing, keeping her conscious.
For over an hour, or what felt like an hour, Libby couldn’t honestly tell whether any time had passed at all in reality, she remained frozen contemplating what or whom had caused this very inconvenient anomaly.
And then she was animated. The ceiling fan started up again, her body was instantly filled with warmth and the sound of traffic outside her window started up again. She checked her watch, and what she saw confirmed her suspicions. Somehow time had rushed to a halt. She knew immediately she had to call someone. This had to be a power, someone’s power, and in that hour what had they done in the world? She had a sudden thought that whoever had caused this may very well could have caused the really cool member killings. She had to tell to tell someone, and right away.
She chugged the rest of her coffee, and bolted down the road and towards the 667er. Akbar surely had records of who had which powers, he must know who the time-stopper was. And she could trust Akbar. J had already proven that he wasn’t the murderer.
As she travelled down the road, Kyle flew down beside her. She rolled her eyes as he gave her a dazzling smile. Kyle was the vanity king of 667.
“How are we today my blue eyed beauty?”
Libby gave him a hard glare. “Aren’t you with Pandora, Kyle?” He shrugged his shoulders at her and continued walking with her. “Pans great and all, but I’m a free spirit baby, tied down to no-one, ya see? And how can I help it if other girls think me to be handsome and charming?” Libby made a gagging noise and continued down the street at a faster pace.
“Where you going so fast anyway Libby, you burning off some steam? Boyfriend dump ya or something?”
Libitina had decided at the beginning not to tell him what she was doing, but now she just anted to shut his ego-maniacal face up. “I’m off to see Akbar, at the 667er I’ll have you know. Something weird happened to me today, something that I think will lead me to the killer. And I need to get there NOW.” Kyle raised his eyebrows. “Well done my feisty vixen. Well if you want to get their faster, you could just go down the Brown Street alleyway, then cross onto Juniper Road. I fly by them, and they lead right to the office.” Libby wasn’t to keen on Kyle following her anymore, and she was in a hurry. So she appeased Eagle boy, and set off down towards the alleyway.
As Libby charged down the street, she noticed young kids playing in front of her. They were kicking a ball around a dumpster, and laughing. At closer inspection she found they were n00bs, with the little new Member badges pinned on themselves.
“Hey Libby!” one of them called. “Wanna play! We kick a ball at the dumpster, and every time you hit the rusted bit, you have to call out a reason why Beatrice isn’t the Baudelaires’ Mother!” Libby politely declined, and continued down the dark road. Then, she felt a chilly wind begin to circle around her. She quickened her pace. The wind got colder and then more brutal. She wasn’t one to get nervous easily, but she turned invisible, just to be on the safe-side. She didn’t want anyone to follow her.
Then she heard the scream.
She turned 180 to stare at the n00bs and saw they were all pointing at one of their own, who was being held against the wall and being strangled by a seemingly invisible assailant.
“TELL ME WHERE THE GIRL WENT really cool member!”
“I KNOW SHE’S HERE! TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!”
The little really cool member screamed in pain, and the others tried to pull his legs down, but something was torturing him at a distance.
One of the girl n00bs yelled out to the voice,
“She, went down the alleyway just a minute ago! She’s probably still on the road!”
Libby’s eyes widened in horror. The man was after her! She sprinted down the alleyway, running as fast as she could, but she knew that anyone could hear her footsteps in the puddles. She changed tack and ran on the very edge of the path back the way she had came, making little noise. The assailant said nothing for a few minutes, before screaming,
“She got away! You imbeciles held me up!”
Libby ran behind and under the dumpster, and waited scared as the man roared.
“YOU n00bs ARE A WASTE OF SPACE!” and then slammed something enormously hard against the alley wall.
She heard a crack and a sudden crumble. The n00bs screeched, but she could then suddenly hear the rocks of the wall crashing down upon them. From under the dumpster she saw the legs of a boy running in circles before crumpling to the ground dead as a boulder crashed upon him. More and more boulders fell, more than could possibly be in the walls. The screaming continued for nearly five more minutes, until there was silence. The entire group had been crushed, and as Libitina opened her eyes to stare at the horror, she saw that the rocks had grouped around the dumpster, and that she was unequivocally,
Trapped.
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Post by Dismay on Jul 14, 2007 9:24:26 GMT -5
I liked that a lot Sora. Hmm, I got a few ideas there... I'll PM you later.
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Post by Sora on Jul 14, 2007 21:17:36 GMT -5
I know its a little one-person focused, but I think that a storyline could flow around it. And I think we needed some more really cool member killings in there somewhere.
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Post by PJ on Jul 15, 2007 3:52:05 GMT -5
That was really quite good. I liked it a lot; things are moving into an interesting direction. BSam may do the next story, though I'm not sure how long it's gonna take. I'm in the snowy mountains at the moment, and so aren't online a lot, but I'll still try and catch him on MSN.
Anyone else interested in doing a piece? I've got something in mind, something that I can insert in any part, really.
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Post by BSam on Jul 15, 2007 4:57:44 GMT -5
i talked with sora and i'm gonna work on something very soon, probably tomorow
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Post by PJ on Jul 17, 2007 0:44:35 GMT -5
This was intended to be one post, but it was so long I thought I'd split it up into three. Part two is already done, but I'll probably only post it tommorow, or after the first person posts or something. Part three I still need to write.
BSam's also about to post something. It's good.
A Chapter in Three Parts
Dante
He was raging. He had lost control. The strain of using his power and the thought of capture had been too much. At least the n00bs had died. But had he killed Libitina? She had probably turned invisible upon hearing him. He cursed his own rashness. She might have been hit by the falling debris. Or she might not have been. He should not have been so rash. If she had escaped, chances were she had recognized his voice. At the very least, she would have guessed that his power was telekinesis, which would only help the police.
This was not good. He had to assume that Libitina had gotten away, and had recognized his voice. He had to act fast. Where would she head first? Tragedy, probably. Or to Robert, who was acting in his stead. Where would she go? Did she know where Tragedy and Linda where hiding? Dante knew. He was a moderator, after all. And with his power, doors and walls weren't an obstacle. That was how it had all started. He had been looking for Linda. Her power might expose him, after all. And it had, in a way. Dante cursed all self-fulfilling prophecies.
He had crept into the hideout one night. It was easy. Finding the place was pretty easy, as well. He had gotten PJ to extract the memory from Robert, and then erase all memory of the encounter. PJ. Something had to be done about him. He was unreliable. But Dante was already working on that. Once inside the facility, it had been child's play. He had found Tragedy's computer. It contained many interesting things. For one, an expanded list of everyone who had a super power. He had used PJ to force Akbar go to give him his list, as well, and then, as usual, had removed all memory of the encounter. He had gotten quite a shock from seeing J. alive again, but it had only been the work of that illusionist. He had had PJ erase Dismay's and Kyle's memories of his encounter of that, as well. By combining both Akbar's and Tragedy's lists, he figured he knew about almost everyone with a super power. He had identified the ones who might pose him a threat; Linda was on the top one. And so was Antenora. Which was a big, big problem. Maybe he could get PJ to do something about that.
He turned around the corner and had arrived at home. Excellent. Safe at last. He went in, prepared himself a cup of tea, and then sat down in front of his computer. He sat here often.
He had also found, on Tragedy’s computer, a list of all of Linda’s prophecies. He didn’t want to have to kill Linda. She was a good, intelligent person. She deserved to live. He was taking a risk, he knew, but it had to be taken. He had attached a mod-link to the computer so that he could access it from his home. He figured that, if he kept on checking on Linda’s prophecies, he could keep the situation in control. He did this now. Nothing new.
None of the prophecies had exposed him. Most spoke of a coming darkness, of some upcoming conflict. This worried Dante. He was murdering n00bs, sure. But why would that cause conflict? It was just him. He wasn’t about to declare war on 667. Perhaps, he worried, his actions would cause some kind of conflict? He doubted this. There was someone else at work. Someone else was out there, another player.
A few of the prophecies were nonsensical, about everyday things, like the one about BSam not liking dogs, or the one about Akbar finally having enough time to work properly. Some were about the past, as well. Obscure references to past conflicts and situations and occurrences. But there was one prophecy that truly worried him. Only one.
“Libitina will be instrumental in uncovering the Rogue.” The Rogue, he figured, was himself. She had mentioned the murderous Rogue before, but only vaguely. The title seemed to be fitting, anyway. He was a moderator at 667, he was supposed to be helping people, not hurting them.
So Libitina had to go. Predictably enough, his own actions would probably be the reason he’d be uncovered. But Linda’s prophecies were not set in stone. That much was clear. She’d predicted that Tragedy would trip down a flight of stairs, and lo behold, since he was forewarned, he hadn’t fallen. Yet, at least. But Linda and Tragedy seemed to think the prophecy hadn’t come to pass. Both of them, and Robert, too, had added their own notes to the Prophecy document.
Might as well lay down some false clues, he thought, and opened up the document via the mod-link. “Beware PJ, for his power is being used for misdirection.” Heh. Linda often forgot what she predicted, so if he added this, it wouldn’t seem too suspicious. It’s not like they’d assume someone had hacked into their computer and was adding false prophecies.
Now. What was he going to do about the Libitina situation?
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Post by BSam on Jul 17, 2007 1:45:44 GMT -5
Between a Dog and a Bar Place
"...Coming up after the break, the really cool member killer strikes again, plus we'll be talking to some of the newest fashions from Paris."
Sam glanced away from the TV in the pub. He had finished work for the day and was enjoying a cold one at his local. Steve, a friend from work, took his place at the bar on the stool next to Sam. Sam ordered 2 pints of draught, and gestured towards the screen at the end of the bar. "Sad this, all the killings. They're only n00bs, but still, do they deserve to die?" "I know," replied Steve, "I heard a couple were slaughtered here the other night. That's why it was shut yesterday." "Is this true?" Sam asked the bargirl. "Sure is," she replied, "the police went over this place like a hobo does with a roast chicken. They found nothing. Just the bodies. It was in that booth over there." She pointed to a booth at the edge of the pub, furthest from the door. Sam turned to look and saw Antenora deep in conversation with someone, he couldn't see who but Antenora had a very serious look on her face so he decided not to wave hello to her. Returning his attention to the beer and the TV he gulped down a mouthful and watched the end of the news.
"...and back to the studio." "Thank you Greg for that report on the superpowers 667ers have been gaining recently. Now for a look at the lighter side of life, one of our viewers has sent in some footage of their pet dogs playing in the park."
Sam wasn't a fan of dogs, ugly hairy beasts. Their only useful function was sniffing out terrorists at the airports. Suddenly he could smell somthing amiss. His attention was drawn to the dark figure leaving the bar. He could smell terrorism reeking from this man. Terrorism and wine. But even after the man had left there was still the stench of terrorism wafting about. Sam got up from his stool and followed his nose. It led him to a suspicious box right near the booth Antenora was sitting in. When he was close enough he heard the ticking and realised it was a bomb. He yelled out to the whole pub, "Get out, this place is gonna blow!" and started running. "Steve! Antenora! Bargirl! We need to get out of here now!"
As soon as they had burst out of the doors the bomb exploded, destroying the interior of the pub. "I'm glad you guys are alright," said Sam to his friends, "Antenora, did your friend make it out safe?" "What do you mean? There was no-one there." She replied before walking off. The sound of sirens in the air, Sam decided to go home, a large flat not far from the pub, before the police started asking questions he didn't know how to answer. How did he know that man was a terrorist? How did he know the man was a wine drinker? Why had he suddenly aquired the sense of smell of a dog? And why was he suddenly craving a nice big bone to chew on?
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Post by Sora on Jul 17, 2007 3:11:10 GMT -5
Interesting power Sam. Do you have super sniff for everything or just for terrorist activities? That could be really handy for finding the Rogue
Both yours and PJ's were great, some good revelation to build a next chapter from. i'm happy to do another bit, but I think we need other people to jump in too. Anyone else keen?
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Post by PJ on Jul 17, 2007 4:17:27 GMT -5
Sam's power is that he can get animal attributes. Claws, wings, etc.
And we retconned Dismay's power to be illusion for that purpose, instead of shapeshifting. I hope she doesn't mind.
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Post by BSam on Jul 17, 2007 5:00:58 GMT -5
Sam's power is that he can get animal attributes. Claws, wings, etc. for any future writers who include me, what peej says is correct, but it only works when alcohol is in my system. also that was the first manifestation of the powers, so i'm sill unsure of the extent and limitations of them also, the more drunk i am the morepowerful the manifestations of animalpower are, but the less control i have over them i may go over this in a next part of that story line, depending on how the flow of my writing goes,
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Post by PJ on Jul 17, 2007 8:18:07 GMT -5
I'll post the last bit tommorow. Who's next? Any takers? Alice? J.? Sam, Linda, Dismay?
A Chapter in Three Parts
Libitina
It was dark. It was cold. And most of all, it was lonely. She’d be rescued, she told herself. This was 667. Someone would report the destruction of the building, and they’d shift the boulders and save her. Someone HAD to have super-strength, or some sort of power that could shift the what she was trapped under.
To pass the time, she thought about the man who had tried to kill her. Try as she might, she couldn’t place the voice. It had been so filled with rage, and hate, that she just did not know who it belonged to. A man, certainly. The really cool member killer. Had it been Robert? She couldn’t be sure.
Then, as if on cue, he spoke. “Hello?” Libitina couldn’t help it. She screamed. “It’s just me. Robert.” “Oh.” She said, the fear in her voice quite pronounced. “Who’re you?” He asked, squinting in the darkness. “It’s…uh…Libitina.” She said, still frightened. He could kill her down here, and no one would know he had done it.
“Hmmm. Why do you sound so afraid, Libitina?” Robert asked, suspiciously. “I’m pinned under a huge pile of rocks!” She said, her voice sounding squeaky. “I see,” said Robert, “so wouldn’t you be glad to meet me? I can pull you out of here. At least, I can try. I’ve never made another personal immaterial, but I’m sure I can do it.” Libitina didn’t say anything.
As for Robert, his detective-sense was screaming loudly. Something was fishy here. There was the prophecy, for one, and the fact that she was buried under a tonne of rocks. She knew something. “I think you have something to tell me.” He said, after a moment of contemplation. “Something important.” He added. Libitina remained silent. “I thought so. So how are we gonna do this? Either you talk, or I leave you here for a while. I’m quite desperate for new information.”
Damn, thought Libitina. She was trapped. What to do? Robert was acting quite suspicious, too. How did he know she knew something? If he WAS the really cool member murderer, he’d be trying to find out if she knew anything important, and then he would kill her. But if he WAS the murderer, then he had already tried to kill her. Maybe he was an accomplice? His power was phasing after all. Could he use that to somehow make a building fall on her? It was possible. Like, if he put something into a wall and then un-phased it. Or something.
So if he was the murderer, she thought, her mind racing furiously, he’ll kill me if I say nothing as well as if I tell him everything. So why is he asking? Maybe he’s trying to trick me into believing he’s not the murderer? But if he’s not the murderer, she thought, then by not telling him anything, he’ll just leave me here. For a while, at least. So really, I should tell him.
She told him. “Well…Akbar sent me to go fetch J. He needed her for some sort of article, I think.” “Oh.” Said Robert. “Yeah. So I went to her house…and she wasn’t answering the door. So I thought, you know, I can turn invisible! I went a bit crazy. So I climbed in through the window. And…and…” “You saw me standing there.” “Yes,” she said, and then you ran. And I followed you.” “Well, salsa.” Said Robert. “Exactly. So I overheard your conversation with Linda.”
There was silence for a moment. “I didn’t kill J. You probably don’t believe me, but hey. I came into her house to give her some new information about the case. And I found her there. Dead. And then I heard a noise. I was scared. What if her murderer was still there? So I fled. And then I saw Linda. She was waiting for me. And…”
He paused for a moment
“This could be important. Have you told anyone about Linda’s prophecy? Does anyone else know?” Robert asked, concern on his face. Not that Libitina could see it. It was so dark. She considered for a moment. If she got killed now, there was still Pandora who knew…but… what the hell. She decided to trust him. “Yeah. Pandora was there.” Libitina said, at last. ”She was? How – what is her power?” Robert said, surprised. “She turns into a puddle of water. Involuntarily, she said. I don’t think it was on purpose. How could she have known you’d meet Linda just under that drain? And could she have followed Linda in her watery state? She seemed just as surprised as me. And I told her about seeing J. dead, too.” “Crap. I’ll have to talk to her, too. Imagine the panic that would ensue if word of this got out. Death of a moderator. 667 closing down. Not to mention the really cool member murderer.” Robert said, sighing loudly.
“Uh…about that. Me and Pandora…kind of…decided to tell people about it. People with powers, anyways. We wanted to start a group an organization, kind of. So that we could stop this impending disaster. You know, divided we are weak, together we are strong? We’ve already got a few members. I think. I’ve been busy, you know. Buried under rubble.”
”Yeah, what’s up with that?” Asked Robert, bemused. “Any chance I can tell you about it above ground?” Libitina asked, crossly. “There’s always the chance that you’ll just turn invisible and run away. I’m trying to find a murderer, Libitina. I can’t trust anyone.”
Libitina sighed loudly. He was going a bit over the top, now. “Well, I was walking around – wait! This morning! Time stopped! I was just lying on my couch, and time stopped, for about an hour!” She said, excitedly. There was a moment of silence. “What do you mean?” “Well, I was sitting on my couch, and everything…stopped. Except my brain. All my organs, my ceiling fan, my body, but not my brain. I could only think. Not blink or look around, just frozen there for an hour.”
More silence. “That’s…certainly interesting, though I’m not sure what it means,” said Robert, “I’m guessing someone has the ability to stop time. Why only you noticed, is beyond me. I don’t think it has anything to do with the murder, since you only noticed it happening once…or maybe it was an anomaly…well, I’ll inform Tragedy, and ask around. But thanks. So back to how you ended up down here?”
“Well, I was out, when I passed some n00bs. After I’d passed them, I heard a scream, and looked back, and…one of the n00bs was struggling, as though someone invisible was attacking them. I heard a voice ask where “she” was, and guessed that it was me he meant. So I turned invisible and ran. But then the voice got angry and the building started collapsing, and I got buried down here. I don’t think he saw me.”
“Are you absolutely sure it was a man?” Robert asked. “Yes. Though I didn’t recognize the voice. How are the n00bs?” “Dead. All of them. I had almost given up when I found you.” Said Robert.
They were silent, for a moment, as they thought about this. “Well, if the murderer didn’t see you, I’m guessing you’re still in danger. You’d better come with me. I’d also like to ask for your help in this investigation. Your power of invisibility may come in handy.” “Sure. I’ll join your investigation. That way I can also keep an eye on you, in case you really did murder J. Now get me the hell out of here.”
Robert smiled, and grabbed her arm. “I guess Linda’s prophecy might turn out to be correct after all.” He said to himself, and before Libitina could ask what he meant, she suddenly felt quite strange, and realized she was floating around inside solid rock. “There we go.” Said Robert, dragging her upwards, out onto the street.
The empty hollow Libitina had been trapped in was not empty, however. The total darkness within writhed and squirmed for a bit, as a tiny shadow slipped between the cracks of the rock, up towards the surface. Hiding underneath a rock, the shadow slithered into a shady corner, and seemingly dissolved.
At the exact same moment, the small shadow reformed within a shadowy corner of Akbar’s office. Skeleton Key stepped forwards, surprising Akbar once more. “I’ve just spent lots of time under a building with Libitina and Robert.” She announced solemnly. “I think you’ll want to know what they were talking about.” Behind his desk, Akbar reclined, a small smile also forming on his face. This was going to be good. He could tell.
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Post by BSam on Jul 17, 2007 14:13:32 GMT -5
ooh, nice
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