Fan Fic Contest: Are you the best writer?

[Bro-man]

Originally Posted by The Grim Reaper's Friend

Do keep in mind you aren't writing a whole fan fiction here. You are supposed to write a single entry, preferably the length of a normal chapter. (Though plenty have disregarded this last part in the past, myself included.)
As to your earlier question, yes, the bolded text is the prompt, but the text below it is also guidelines.
If you were planning on writing a whole fan fiction for this, you can do one of two things. You can either shorten it to three or four chapters and post it here, or you can make your own thread for it and post it as a fan fic.
~TGRF.
P.S. Tornado, I forgot about you. You still planning on entering?

I am still finishing mine. This is the hardest story I ever worked on and I am hoping to get it done soon.

[The Grim Reaper's Friend]

Originally Posted by Ninja Status

Okay so I should stop were I have it or keep going, also what do you think of it?

I generally like to save any comments I have on the entries for when I judge. It keeps the competition fair that way. Only stop if you feel you've completed your entry. I just wanted to make sure you weren't posting a whole fan fic in here. Individual chapters are fine with me.
~TGRF.
P.S. It's 'where', btw, not 'were.' I'm just grammatically strange that way.

[Dysole]

Spoiler Alert!

"I hear he's crazy."
"You hear a lot of things."

Ne-gok-sa and Cyprien made their way toward the door. As they approached the two marro outside quickly put away several cubes and stood at attention. Cyprien pulled out a small key and turned the handle. Inside a sentinel sat strapped onto a chair. His face was bloodied and his wings were missing quite a few feathers.

"Hello, gentlemen. Come for tea?"

Cyprien pulled up a chair across from the sentinel and looked into his eyes.

"Now where were we?"
"I believe you were in the middle of being frustrated and I was in the middle of comparing your wife to Bella."

The vampire snarled down at the sentinel.

"You will reveal your secret."
"You wish to know the word? The word of doom that will end the war? That word?"
"Yes."
"Sorry. Fresh out of desires to help the bad guys. You know how it is..."
"Silence! Ne-gok-sa has the capability to probe into your mind and get what we need!"

The sentinel edged forward in his chair.

"Fire up Cerebro."

The vampire and Ne-gok-sa exchanged looks. Ne-gok-sa grabbed the sentinel's head.

"Let's see what you have in here."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Any news?"
"The fortress is within sight sir. Estimated arrival time is 7.43 hours. Could be faster with a forced march but it is almost certain the force would be incapable of fighting at full strength."

Drake hesitated. They needed to reach that fortress fast. They had no idea how long they had. He knew what his gut was telling him.

"We don't stop until we reach that fortress. Move out."
"Yes sir. I will inform the troops."

Drake watched the sniper head down to the rest of the task force. He took off his hat and glanced up at the night sky.

"I hope we're not too late."

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This was familiar to Ne-gok-sa. Most people's heads were empty dustbins of piled up waste. Well the glowy electric stuff always showed up as well but usually there wasn't a whole lot else rummaging around.

"You like it? If I'd known you were coming, I'd have cleaned up the place."

This was certainly unusual. Few people were able to communicate with him on this wavelength. The sentinel was proving dangerous. The mental image of the sentinel flickered slightly which probably meant his grip wasn't all that tight. He contemplated breaking the connection to tell Cyprien to give the sentinel a few whacks to the head. That should break whatever connection and leave him undeterred. Then again, since he was able to communicate on this wavelength, it could mean there were hidden booby traps. It was certainly odd for a sentinel to be this finicky. It was usually the heroes who made it hard on him.

"What's the matter? Dund got your tongue?"

Ne-gok-sa shoved aside a dendrite and made his way toward the sentinel. The landscape changed rapidly. They were now in a field. This was not good. If the sentinel could change his mental landscape, Ne-gok-sa was going to have issues.

"I felt this was a little more cozy. I like fields don't you?"

Ne-gok-sa made his way up to the sentinel.

"Where is it?"
"The big ultra secret word of doom? Well I'd probably hide it behind a big ultra secret door of doom? Maybe something like this."

The sentinel reached behind him and opened up a door in the air and jumped in. Upon slamming it shut, Ne-gok-sa saw a large metal door with no handle or keyhole on it. He smiled.

"Bad move. Opening locked doors are a specialty of mine. I just needed to know where it was."

He reached around the sides of the door and concentrated. Soon the meadow was ablaze and the door was melting. He smiled.

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"Sir the troops are tired but we are here."
"How soon until dawn?"
"2 hours, 12 minutes, 36 seconds."

Drake grimaced. The vampires would be at full strength while his troops would not be. Delaying the attack could mean an easier time with the vampires but it could also mean that Utgar might have the information. He looked at the sniper.

"We attack. But do so sneakily."
"Yes sir. I will relay the orders. Shiori will infiltrate and try to get us an entrance."
"Good. Hopefully everything goes according to plan."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

They stood on either sides of a volcano. The heat seemed to be getting to the sentinel.

"What's the matter too hot for you?"
"No, I vacationed in Aruba once. That was hot."
"What is Aruba?"
"Way more expensive than it should have been."

Ne-gok-sa ignored that.

"So all your secrets are here? In a big volcano?"
"No, that's you setting things ablaze. It used to be a nice snowy mountaintop complete with 'Do not Feed the Yetis' sign. I liked that sign."
"You didn't answer the question. Is this where your big secret is?"
"The word? Why would I hide the word in a volcano? I'd hide a big ring of doom or something in a volcano? Words wouldn't keep."
"Then you are useless to me."

Ne-gok-sa lunged forward and shoved the sentinel. He lost his footing and fell into the volcano.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"The drawbridge is lowered sir. There is no sign that the enemy is aware yet."
"Good work Shiori. Get everyone across that bridge and into the castle."

As silently as possible, the task force moved across the drawbridge. Drake didn't like this. No enemy resistance. Shiori was good but she wasn't this good.

"Stop. Something's not right."
"Quite right Drake."

They turned to see Iskra standing at the rocks they had just come from. She waved her hands and three large retchets appeared.

"Kill them my pets. It's their fault for wandering into an ambush."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

After the sentinel had fallen into the lava, Ne-gok-sa found himself in a corridor. The walls were a vivid purple and white messages flickered on and off. GO BAKC. STEY AWAY. YU DON'T BELONG HEAR. Ne-gok-sa ignored them and continued down the hallway. There was a door at the end. He opened it. Inside were several large coats. Ne-gok-sa pulled one out and shook it.

"What is the meaning of this? He must still be here somehow. I have a feeling this is his subconscious though. Why would coats be in a subconscious?"

Ne-gok-sa pondered this and then noticed that the walls extended back for a bit. He moved a bit further. He stumbled out into bright sunlight. It was desert with high cliff faces. That wasn't the most surprising thing though. Everywhere he looked he saw skeletons lying in poses as if they had dried out of thirst. One in particular looked like the sentinel grappling a more skeletal version of himself. Ne-gok-sa walked over and kicked the sentinel. The sound of rattling bones echoed off the cliff walls. He continued walking. That was when he saw it. He smiled. He knew he had found his prize.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Drake's sword slashed through the flesh of the retchet. It fell to the ground. They had beaten back the retchets but he knew more forces would be coming.

"Drake so nice of you to join us."

He knew that voice. It was Cyprien. The vampire was at his throat in an instant. Drake was finding it hard to breathe. Cyprien brought up his hand and extended a single finger. Drake could feel the iciness emanating from it.

"I'm in the mood for things to cool down. How about you?"

He pressed his finger against Drake's temple. It felt cold. Very cold. Drake could feel the heat slipping out of his veins. His sword dropped.

"Are you feeling better?"

Drake couldn't cough up words.

"No. Maybe this will help."

Cyprien plunged his teeth into Drake's neck.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

He stood before a whale skeleton. Inside was a glowing ball of blue. Ne-gok-sa came forward a little bit more. Suddenly a hooded figure stood in front of him. It flipped down its hood. It was the sentinel.

"Are you sure you want that?"
"Of course I do. It'll end the war. One word. That has to be powerful."
"It is. But that doesn't mean it's good."
"All the more reason to use it."
"Question. If I had a word that could put all of you to death wouldn't I have used it the instant you found me?"
"Collateral damage. You Jandar types are always into stopping that sort of thing."
"What about at your castle?"

Ne-gok-sa hesitated.

"Honestly at this point I really can't stop you. It's taking everything within me to hold this form. I doubt I'm much of a threat to you."
"Oh? Well then I think you're bluffing."

Ne-gok-sa shoved aside the hooded sentinel and reached into the glowing ball and felt its knowledge flood into him.

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Cyprien dropped Drake to the ground. A gunshot wound landed in his back. He grimaced and looked up at a sniper.

"That was my commander. I shall eliminate you in exchange for his removal."

The vampire bared his fangs and charged up at the sniper. He knew his touch was useless to its metal exterior but he could still destroy its circuitry with his bare hands. He clasped around the sniper's neck and squeezed. The sniper's head popped off. He chuckled. The sniper spoke.

"I have fulfilled my duty."
"To die?"
"No, to distract you."

Cyprien turned around in time to see Drake's wounded arm send a sword plunging into his chest.

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Ne-gok-sa wished he hadn't. Everything was becoming clear to him. One word did have power. It was a game changer. It changed everything. He was staring at the sentinel face to face. They were both standing on top of a world with stars all around them.

"You see now don't you?"
"This is impossible."
"The more you resist it, the more you are certain it is true. Madness is the only escape."
"This can not be."
"Oh it is. You are a child's plaything. You are a toy."

Ne-gok-sa understood that. It made sense. Aruba, Bella, Cerebro, the ring in the volcano, the closet that led to a whole new place. He got them. This one word had changed everything. It had opened up a door. A pathway that he understood. Heroscape. It was a nonsense word but it meant so much. It was their world which was only a world within another world. All of their battles were pointless and meaningless. This one word negated everything they had ever fought for, died for, been reborn for.

"Get rid of it."
"You have to leave it here. If you sever the connection it will follow you wherever you go. Jandar trusted me when I told him he didn't want to know."
"I don't want this knowledge."
"Knowledge is a curse isn't it?"
"Take it from me."

The sentinel reached into Ne-gok-sa and the ball flowed back from Ne-gok-sa into the sentinel.

"Now go quickly or else it will come back to you."

Ne-gok-sa severed the connection.

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Cyprien screamed and vanished into a puff of smoke. Drake knew better than to assume the vampire was dead but instead made his way up the stairwell. He knew he was losing blood but he had to succeed to make the mission a success. He barely even noticed the divider he sliced open in front of the doorway. He shoved the door down. Ne-gok-sa laid slumped on the ground his hand having slumped down onto the bloody and beaten sentinel's neck. Drake raised his sword over Ne-gok-sa.

"Don't."

He looked up at the sentinel.

"He's been through a lot. There's no need to kill him."
"Now is the perfect time."
"No."

Drake lowered his sword.

"Then we can at least get you home."
"Sure, let's do that."

The sentinel coughed. Drake began to untie the ropes.

"Can you walk or fly?"
"Probably not. What Ne-gok-sa did drained me almost as bad as it drained him."

Drake nodded and hoisted the sentinel on his back. He charged back down the stairs and looked at the carnage below. He was the only survivor of the task force. Maybe Shiori but he couldn't see her. He needed to get out of there. He jumped out of a window and landed in the moat. As he swam toward the shore he knew he kept his eye out for anyone following him.

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Cyprien materialized near Ne-gok-sa.

"Get up. They've won. They got their prize. I only hope you acquired the knowledge from him."

Ne-gok-sa rubbed his head.

"He was bluffing the whole time. He has no secret knowledge. It was a ruse. Unfortunately Jandar bought it as much as we did and so he lost forces on a useless mission."
"Well that is some consolation."

Ne-gok-sa rubbed his head again. That was what it was right? He didn't have a secret. Ne-gok-sa couldn't remember for certain but he knew that if the sentinel had had a secret he would have found it so it must have been nothing.

~Dysole, who still can't believe he wrote all that in one sitting

[Ninja Status]

that makes mine look horrible

[The Grim Reaper's Friend]

Ah. We have secured three entries. NS, if you are going to add to yours, let me know, I'm fine with it if you do, since you obviously wrote it assuming it would be only the first chapter. Bro-man and Tornado, let me know how you're coming. I'm fine with waiting for you, but others may resort to rotting slabs of meat if I don't get judging soon.
~TGRF.

[Ninja Status]

Also I will be adding more to my post over time (as I was not finished when I posted)

[Tornado]

Songs of the summer surround us in sound
The Grim Reaper's Friend has three entries found
Ninja Status sneaks about with unfinished business.
A little luck and he might just win this.
Dysole pops in with an instant classic.
And Tornado, drops a poem crap-tastic.
Will Bro-, show?
We may never know.
Go Man Go.

GL all.

[Ninja Status]

Bravo, Bravo .

[Ninja Status]

Okay sorry everyone, I am tired and still have a lot more to type before I am finished, I will be done by tomorrow I promise.

[Bro-man]

Originally Posted by Tornado

Songs of the summer surround us in sound
The Grim Reaper's Friend has three entries found
Ninja Status sneaks about with unfinished business.
A little luck and he might just win this.
Dysole pops in with an instant classic.
And Tornado, drops a poem crap-tastic.
Will Bro-, show?
We may never know.
Go Man Go.

GL all.

Love it! I will believe I will have my story finished by tomorrow. If not then I will be done on Monday. (Going to my cabin and I will not have internet for some time.)
But I will definitly work hard to get this through. Just you wait everyone!