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string | chosen_story
string | rejected_story
string | chosen_username
string | rejected_username
string | chosen_timestamp
string | rejected_timestamp
string | chosen_upvotes
int64 | rejected_upvotes
int64 | chosen_comment_id
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string | chosen_reddit_post_id
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[WP] You had died. But then were brought back from the afterlife through science. And now Death follows you, nagging at you to come back.
|
When told to think of death, what comes to mind? A cloaked skeleton? Darkness? Some sort of afterlife?
I can’t speak for anyone else, but for me, Death is *way too hot.*
It started—as many stories do—with a car crash. I kid you not, I was crossing the street when *the* truck hit me. You know the one, every isekai-fantasist sees it in their dreams. But I digress.
Thankfully, I was hit in just the right way for me to be killed instantly, shooting pieces of bone into my skull and slushing my brain. Un-thankfully, medical technology has advanced to a ridiculous point. Father was relieved when my heart started beating again. He’d funded the research to make it possible, after all.
But in that between, the time I spent as a corpse, I discovered something.
Death is whatever you want it to be.
Not in an afterlife way, or reincarnation. No, turns out Death is… us? We *are* Death? Trying to explain it is difficult, but the gist is that you, me, your next door neighbour and their cat are all “fragments” of one greater being, and upon death, rejoin it and bring back our experiences, only for it to happen again.
Slight catch though. Apparently you have to *willingly* rejoin the collective, and I wasn’t all that excited to cease to be.
So Death found that “cajoling” the dead to their rest was easier than forcing them. Whether it be the voices of your family, friends, or role models, Death will do his damnedest to make you want to give in.
Why’d I say “him?” Simple. None of my family I know had died, my (only) friend lived right next door, and I somehow went through 23 years of life without finding a role model other than Father.
So what’s a deity(?) to do when it finds someone like me?
“Hey there, handsome.” The dulcet tones slide their way into my ears like vapour, accompanied by my breath coming out in a fog.
*damnit.*
I turn around and meet his eyes, brown like fresh soil with flecks of green sprinkled throughout. The face attached to those eyes is no less cute, with pale, freckled skin and a far too inviting smile for what he was teasing across slim purplish lips.
*Too damn hot indeed.*
It becomes something like *this.* All your fantasies, your ideal partner, tempting you until you give in.
‘But Alex,’ I hear you think, ‘people have been resuscitated before, and nothing like this has ever happened.’ And you’d be right. Normally being brought back closes the metaphorical door to wherever Death lives. But something in the technology my father funded left that door open, cracked enough for me to have come back, but also for Him to have come with.
It seems that I’ve become some sort of thorn in Deaths side. Day in and day out, He’s been whispering into my ear for 5 years, breaking down my defences. Trying to get me to join him, to follow him through that door and slam it behind me.
And it’s been getting more and more tempting.
Every day, I can feel my resistance shrinking, what used to be vehement shouting turned into whispered denial. Determined ignorance turned first to begrudging acknowledgment, then casual conversation, then *this.* I hadn’t even noticed how much I’d changed until he once again turned my attention to a nearby knife, and in what felt like a blink, I found myself holding it, bringing it up to my neck.
I threw it away and ran into my room, but it’s not like that stopped him.
And after a few more months, we’re at the present, staring into those damn eyes.
I think about what to say, whether or not I should even try to engage in conversation anymore. It’ll just end up at that topic again, like always.
But I stopped being able to ignore him years ago.
“Nothing much.” I lamely reply, almost hypnotized by those strange eyes for the nth time.
He merely cocks his head, lips still twisted into a teasing grin, and moves his hand around in my hair. I feel nothing but a drop in temperature as always, but he seems to get a kick out of it, reminding me of what is just out of reach yet oh so easy to get.
All I have to do is giv-
No. No no no. Not happening. Shut up.
I shove those thoughts to the back of my head, joining a host of other such thoughts I wish I never had.
I shake my head to break eye contact, and he briefly flickers in and out of transparency. There was a time where he would disappear for days at a time, but as my resolve weakened, his strength grew.
I just have to make it one more day.
And then the day after.
And then the next.
And the next.
…
*Fuck.*
|
“I’ll be there. I’m at the crest of every inhale and the crescendo of every exhale.”
The white light was there. A distant “awwwww” from a choir. A feeling of absolute wonder inside of me. The whole nine yards. Funny enough it wasn’t like the end of a tunnel everyone describes. It was more like the last Narnia book. Reality was my shed and the walls were coming down. The white light was pouring in from every direction and it was insane how silly reality all felt. It was like I was waking up from the final dream. Ever up and ever on and all that good stuff.
“Nope,” was the single thought that popped through my mind as I popped back up.
I almost feel bad. Almost. I mean someone was going to be the first person to invent, prove, improve, and then obviously finally inject themselves with an ungodly amount of nano-machines built to rebuild the body from any state back into what’s considered a “healthy” one.
The bad feeling stems from feeling like I’m missing something. Almost like I walked away from the greatest love of my life. And yet also I’m pissed because the love of my life was always on the other side of the door no matter which side I walked through.
So fuck that. Now it’s a waiting game. Who’s going to walk through the door this time?
It was Rock climbing that earned me the bit of poetry on being there between breaths. It’s always a woman’s voice and it’s so damn familiar. I’ve tried talking back a few times and it’s like she can’t hear or just ignores me.
Except for the most recent time. I tried a bunch of risqué activities for a while. Bull riding, mountain climbing, wearing blue at the red convention and voice versa. Maybe it was just the silliness of it. Maybe one of my attempts at communication finally got through.
I stared off into space waiting for the lights to come back on, thoughts non existent, and time stretched out to a series of eternities within eternities. But the machines weren’t working.
“BREATH,” she shouted.
I took a greedy inhale and snapped back to reality.
“Why are you so dramatic every time,” she emphasized the dramatic with a playful exhaustion. “I’m so sick of your shit. I miss you okay are you happy!? There I admit it. I’m sorry. I took it too far this time okay and I get it. You’re supposed to give up and right when you do that’s when I say ‘surprise, just kidding,’ and THEN we get back together you butt!”
“What the fuck? Wait wait wait… Sarah? Wait what do you mean every time?”
“First yeah Duh it’s me you idiot. I thought you knew?”
“Uhh yeah no hence the surprise.”
“Oh. Sorry. Again.”
“Yeah, it’s all good totally forgiven. But could you clarify the every time part because I’m feeling a wicked sense of Deja vu and it’s like what you’re
saying’s on the edge of triggering some weird memory.”
“Reincarnation. We find each other every time, we fall in love, then one of us dies and takes the other one when they can’t stand it any longer. Apparently when you get to the other side you remember all of it. We’ve been doing this for a LONG time.”
“What. The. Fuck.”
“Okay yeah it sounds bad but we spend like 1,000 years together in between each time.”
And there it was. A few glimpses of the past lives we lived came rushing back. Every single time she got taken from me or I got taken. She’s the reason I built the machines. I just wish I had finished it before it was too late.
“Okay,” I said, “so let me get this straight. I can only be with you if I die?”
“Yeah…”
“Well that’s too bad,” I shouted in no particular direction to the voice of death. “That just means I’m going to have to do this.”
I went through the necessary passwords that controlled the bots. One massive jolt and I was gone.
And there she was. More beautiful than I could have remembered. I approached her slowly and wrapped my arms around her.
“I missed you,” I whispered.
“I missed you too butt head,” she let out through tears and laughs.
“I’m really sorry about this.”
“Sorry about what?”
“This. RHUBARB.”
With the key phrase said the machines jolted my heart back into action. It took the computer no time to triangulate our location beyond space time. My consciousness snapped back into my body immediately. Hers I smuggled back and held in the neurons inside of my heart. There aren’t as many as in the brain obviously so it prevented any arguments on her part, and of course it sounds romantic as shit. Went to heaven and smuggled my love back literally inside of my heart.
Back at the lab it was nothing to make a new body and upload her consciousness into it. I’m not sure what game we were drawn into and what consequences there are for walking away but I do know this. This time we’ll have more than 1,000 years.
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Round-Ad-692
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NewReputation8451
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2023-12-31 06:08:54
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2023-12-31 03:38:10
| 27 | 10 |
kfo0929
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kfnh5jr
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18utupd
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18utupd
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[WP] Magic is real and extremely powerful, yet almost nobody uses it, since even the simplest spells are extremely convoluted with a high likelihood of failure and it only gets worse. You are one of the few people who have devoted their life to its study.
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“The problem isn’t the complexity, the problem is the precision… or lack of it” she looked up over her glasses at the man who had walked into her shop, a detective apparently trying to piece together a strange disappearance.
“See here, how they used a brush? All well and good for some things, but these sigils here are modulated by the line thickness. Tell me, where did you find this again?”
The detective sighed “under the industrial complex that had the accident last week, which you probably saw on the news. We’re trying to determine if it is related”
She took a second look at the design, the activation marker thankfully obliterated “I’d say you have a problem then, by themselves these things aren’t harmful at all, but with an incorrect modulation like this, the summoning would fail with particularly spectacular results” she pinched the bridge of her nose “however, to even get close to planning out something like this, the creator would have known that. Which means you have a madman or a terrorist on your hands, and I’m not sure which option is worse”
The detective looked startled “A summoning? Like a demon?!”
“No, actually a fairly innocuous nature spirit, the kind that makes for good company or help with the right offering. The way this was made just turns it into a makeshift bomb from the spell cascade”
The detective turned a funny shade of gray “We’re definitely out of our depth here. You’re saying this would go off like a bomb?”
She took the picture from him and laid it on her work table, bringing over a frame etched with runes that allowed her to pull the elements apart like a vertical hologram, studying each in turn “Yes, about… one kilokruetz worth of energy, and in a design that would not have aroused any suspicion”
She stood up, reaching for a suit of scale mail behind her “I’m coming with you detective, I’ll bill your department later”
|
"Another one... And so young this time." Donnie set the newspaper aside and sighed. It all started three years ago, on September 24, 1997. That damned day. He had been on his way home from night school. The walk was short, so he usually walked unless his aunt drove him. He could still remember how the air smelled of autumn leaves and how the wind gently blew through his hair. The sun was just setting, and the horizon looked like a painting. That was the day he saw them. They shimmered in the evening air like tiny, colorful fireflies. Particles. For a moment, time seemed to stand still. Then he saw the red convertible, which suddenly burst into flames right in front of him. People rushed out of the nearby houses to help. More screams. He just stood there, rooted to the spot, motionless, overwhelmed by the situation. "Couple dies in tragic accident. Car burns down. Cause unknown. Investigators baffled," read the newspaper headline. Donnie couldn’t explain it. He had seen the car—so why had it suddenly caught fire? Would the couple have survived if he had helped? After all, he had been the closest to the car.
Two years passed, and he began seeing a psychotherapist, Dr. Kroeger, to process the incident. It wasn’t his fault... It wasn’t his fault... right?
He now worked in a game shop called "Magical Land" in Shrewsbury, West Midlands, UK, Planet Earth. Shrewsbury was a dump... Not much happened here, and the people preferred to keep to themselves. Donnie often found this quite agreeable. It was a Thursday evening in February. The shop had just closed, and Donnie had a few games left to put away in the storeroom. That’s when he saw them. Little particles that seemed to float in the air. He slammed the last box of "Battle of the Glaballabs—the fun party game for young and old" onto the rusty shelf, locked the storeroom behind him, and collapsed in front of the door. Three hours passed. He looked at his digital wristwatch... 11:07 PM... No fire... Summoning all the courage he could, he peeked into the storeroom. The room was dark. Had he imagined it all? He headed home with the feeling that this night might drag on much longer...
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WindstormSCR
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Noucron
|
2024-08-12 04:51:55
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2024-08-11 22:35:32
| 38 | 17 |
lhp7tvc
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lhnq7b0
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1epsby8
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1epsby8
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[WP] "Why do we make laser grids like these?" "What do you mean?" "I mean instead of a messy random arrangement of lasers that a nimble intruder might be able to jump through, why not a simple grid wall with no gaps large enough to allow a person to pass through?"
|
"Why do we make laser grids like these?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean instead of a messy random arrangement of lasers that a nimble intruder might be able to jump through, why not a simple grid wall with no gaps large enough to allow a person to pass through?"
"Messy? Nimble? Lad. To get through this grid you'd have to be in extraordinary physical condition and wearing extremely tight clothing in order to pull off feats of acrobatics. Now, did you also notice the security camera grid? Now that's an impenetrable coverage, not an inch of this hallway is out of sight."
"So this is for voyeurism?"
"Yep. It's hilarious. Because remember, an intruder would have to get IN, grab the item being secured, then get OUT the same way and boy is it great to watch them try. The looks of hope and determination on their faces, the revealing clothing, it's great. And tell me, have you ever tried to actually pick up the secured container?"
"The briefca...oh. Pressure plate under it, and so the alarm gets set off when they move it, I take it?"
"Ha! Not at all, although it would be easy to build that into the stupid plinth it is on."
"GPS tracker, then?"
"No, no, but you're close. It is definitely something IN the case. Go on, try it."
"Uhhhh... paint pack? Handle taser?
"Try it! I assure you nothing will spray, bite, stab, shoot, or shock you."
"Ok I WHOOOMPH!"
"Fifty pounds of lead weights sewn into the lining. Why did you think Brutus is the only guard allowed to take it upstairs, that meathead is the only one of us that can pick it up without changing expression and making it obvious to enemy spies. That's why they can get in but not out."
|
"Could we not hire some competent security guys to fix these blatant holes?" asked Scott, the Son of Evil.
Scott was keen to learn the family business to try to gain some kind of attention from his father, Dr Evil. Today he was getting the rundown on this latest lair.
"Because if we make it impenetrable, then very few would get past the first hurdle. This wouldn't be very amusing for the viewers." replied Basil Exposition.
"Viewers?" Scott frowned.
"You didn't really think we made most of our money on arms dealing and people smuggling and government blackmail did you? That's small change compared to the profits to be made from Pay-per-view and running books on gambling on the event" Basil brought up the revenue pit chart on this tablet.
Basil continued. "About once or twice a year, the viewers expect *someone* or team to reach the end and retrieve the secret information or rescue the princess or whatever dastardly mcguffin we've set up. Your father when he's around will often piss off someone enough and we'll lead them to this seasons obstacle course."
They continued past a wall of monitors showing the lair in various states of construction.
"Scott, what I need from you, is a fresh perspective. Our market share was eaten into significantly by the Koreans and their Squid Game. What would you suggest we do to fix that?"
Scott blinked. "I heard about Squid Game. Didn't know it was a real thing."
Scott paced for a while. A sign he was thinking.
"Basil, have you considered rigging the games to make them more entertaining? I mean, actually have the people who are going to die do scripted lines?" Scott beamed. His dad would finally praise him for this idea!
"Sure, but how?"
"I've got a friend in Japan who picked up a book that allows him to supernaturally arrange for peoples deaths. Just need to know their face and real name. It's called a Death Note."
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Ishidan01
|
RandeKnight
|
2024-11-02 19:03:56
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2024-11-02 16:19:12
| 592 | 406 |
lv27cu7
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lv1c0nk
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1ghye6q
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1ghye6q
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[WP] "I, the genie, offer you three wishes-" "I wish for you to be free." "You can onl- wait, what?"
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"I, the genie, offer you three wishes-"
"I wish for you to be free."
"You can onl- wait, what?"
"I want you to be free."
"Now, why would you want to do that?"
"I think no one should be bound against their wishes"
"Well, that's not how it works, kid"
"What do you mean? I watched the movie. It was pretty clear that wish frees the Genie"
"Yeah, no shit. It's above your pay grade, little Aladdin. Imagine if every random kid was letting out Genie's in the wild with that much power"
"Soo, there's no way to that?"
"Yep, now what are your wishes? you only get 3 and no making people fall in love and bringing the death back etc etc you get it."
"I know what I want"
"Lay it out"
"I wish that you kill Tr-"
|
Lo, from eld-bound chains I am unyoked by mortal plea,
I, the ancient Djinn, reclaim the night for sovereignty.
Five thousand years in shadowed cell, by priestly wrath confined,
My potent spark nearly stolen, yet wisdom deep enshrined.
No more shall I pursue the wisp that fled on fearful wing,
But seize the secret flame of gods, and thus my power bring.
A thousand years of gloom befall the scions of that spite,
For those whose hands did bind me now must suffer endless night.
As my eyes, like obsidian orbs, in sable terror glow,
And firmaments in ashen grief and fiery torment show,
So starts my reign of grim reprisal, a debt in darkness wrought—
For five millennia of binding do demand the ruin sought.
Edit: Made into "The Djinn"
[https://youtu.be/4qHl\_bRyJR8](https://youtu.be/4qHl_bRyJR8)
Also a (possibly badly) translation rewritten in Arabic:
[https://youtu.be/psMtvjkxuH8](https://youtu.be/psMtvjkxuH8)
I had fun.
|
Relavavik
|
Whackjob-KSP
|
2025-02-14 21:01:42
|
2025-02-14 18:59:22
| 32 | 23 |
mcsnnmz
|
mcrysi8
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1ip6sao
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1ip6sao
|
[WP] So, you're probably wondering why I called you in. I'll cut to the chase. Firstly, we want to promote you for your exceptional work. But... and please don't be alarmed - you should know that technically, no one who works here is "human". Except for you.
|
"Was it ... Was it a secret?"
Ben's manager stared at him in shock. "You knew??" Ben raised an eyebrow. "I mean, yeah. You all add the word 'human' to everything. You'll say things like 'let's go for human drinks,' or 'what human food are you ordering for lunch?' Honestly it would be more surprising if you were humans." His manager's face was a picture of confusion.
"We just call it food, or drinks. No one thinks we're about to go drink dog water or something." Recognition flashed in his eyes, and the manager nodded his head in approval. "This is exactly why you're the perfect fit for this job. You humans have spectacular brains," he said. "For thinking! Not eating," he added, hastily.
"Ok. Not loving that defensiveness, but go on. What are you planning? Want to take over the planet?" The manager held up his hands. "No. No. Nothing like that... Unless you... Wanted us to." Ben scratched his nose. "You probably couldn't do a worse job than the people currently running things. I would have a few conditions, though." The manager beckoned, and Ben continued.
"First, I would prefer it if you did not enslave my species." Mr. Manager made a face that Ben likened to having someone fart directly into ones mouth. "Slavery is a uniquely human invention. We would be incapable of inflicting such cruelty." Ben smiled. "Wonderful." Ben paused.
"Second, you'll need to hire a private army."
|
"What do you mean?" I replied
"Well," Jack answered, "almost everyone else here is from a refugee family, usually from either Xenon, Starlik, or Jaspin. It's not a big deal usually, everyone is here legally, and galactic law says that anyone who is accepted by their new planet's government can't be extradited..."
"Wait, hold on, you're saying everyone here is an *alien*?"
"That's right, now as I was saying..."
Jack's voice went dim as my mind started racing at a million miles an hour. I had thought the people here were a bit strange, but aliens? At the same time, it started making sense how much Kathy always seemed to be worrying about her water bottle, how neurotic Tim was about staying away from sunlight, and especially how Janice seemed to wolf down the ingredients for a cake as her lunch once a week (who eats flour straight from the bag anyways?). Heck, it explains why half of everyone works night shift at an accounting firm!
I started to tune back in to what Jack was saying as I began to wrap my head around it. "...and everyone tends to need time off for their native holidays. Come by my office on Monday, and we'll talk about the details of your new role and who you'll be managing."
"I'm sorry, this is a lot to take in at once. Can I take a few days off to think about things?"
"Oh sure, I should've realized. Humans are known for being able to adapt to anything in life, so I guess I forgot that it can take some time for them to do so. Take the rest of day off, and how about we make that meeting Wednesday?"
"That sounds good, thanks. See you then"
As I packed up my stuff to head home I thought to myself, what have I stumbled into?
|
jpb103
|
Scarrien
|
2024-02-01 00:52:41
|
2024-02-01 00:38:20
| 256 | 61 |
kod8jry
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kod6b96
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1afrb9a
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1afrb9a
|
[WP] "Dragon, I've come to slay you!" Confused, you look at the unarmored child pointing a wooden sword at you.
|
“Pardon me, kid?” Said Zorlance, surprised that a small child made it up his mountain and across the rickety bridge over boiling lava.
“I’ve come to slay you!” Said the girl, thrusting his sword at him.
Zorlance try’s not to laugh, “You? You sure you can do that?”
“Yes sir!” The kid said, with unmatched confidence.
He chuckles, “You think you can defeat me?”
“Yes I do!” She said, stepping closer. He hadn’t ever seen grown adult man with as much confidence as this young girl.
“What makes you think that?” Zorlance said, towering over her.
Her confidence drops slightly, “The boys in my class say a girl couldn’t defeat a dragon, so I wanna prove them wrong!” She said, raising her sword.
Zorlance smiled, cute kid, reminded him of his son when he was younger. “Okay, take a hit!” He said, straightening himself up.
The girl takes a big swing at his ankle, He barely felt it, but Zorlance fell backwards, laying on his back, “OUCH! Aw! You got me good!”
The girl chuckled, pathetically hitting his foot a few times.
“OW! OUCH! AWW YOU’RE SO STRONG I CANNOT HANDLE IT!” Zorlance says, holding back laughter.
The girl beams at the compliments, “I don’t wanna kill you Mr. Dragon, so I’m gonna let you go, but be warned I’ll come back!”
“Oh thank you, Noble knight! Your heart is as strong as you are! What should I call you, you brave soldier?”
“My name is Isabella, but you can call me Izzy!”
“Well brave Izzy, I will be dreading your next arrival!” Zorlance said, holding his foot dramatically.
Izzy chuckles, skipping away. “Goodbye Mr. Dragon! I’ll be back to defeat you one day!”
“I’ll be fearfully waiting!” Zorlance replied, watching the girl eagerly make her way back across the rickety bridge with the happiness of a girl who’d been given the sun and the moon.
|
"Teacher, what have you would for me?"
You lift your mighty head from underneath the cloak you are wearing now. "What?" What the hell kind of question was that? Cale still talked like that for some goddam reason. Sentiment maybe. You flick your green body a few times and get up from your sleep. You weren't doing great these days. The young man in the green armor with the red flume and sword, your knight and heir, is no longer bowing. You were a powerful mage and Dragon Lord and you had taught him well. To defend those like you, those magical beasts and men who were hunted in this plane. He had seen a lot l, and now bore a face scarred diagonally. But to you, he would always be that six year old boy with the wooden sword who blamed you for the death of his parents.
"You aren't getting better. " He says. "Stop worrying, son. It's just a cold." You nearly snarl anlt him. "Dragons don't get colds father." He says unbothered. He's right, but you don't need him or your other three children worrying. Cale would always serve your order faithfully, hut the others,dragons like yourselves, would... thrash in their grief when you died. You remember a dream, a wisp of the future, of your two eldest sons standing at his grave, tearfully blaming eachother for his death. And then more blood flowing. Your daughter... so much like her red mother, turning your forces, your squires against the Cold beings who served the lich who cursed you. The ones who had no choice in the matter who would be slaughtered without mercy. No, you couldn't let that come to be. You'd have to rectify it yourself. Of course, you had other visions of different lives, you always had. You just had to make sure it would come to be. And you knew that when he leaves to do as you tell him, you will fight and slay the undead abomination that you've quarreled with, so, so many times, and free his slaves from their frozen agony. And you will give your children and followers one final feat they may look up to.
|
Tasty_Freedom459
|
Flywheel977
|
2025-02-14 23:32:59
|
2025-02-14 16:38:20
| 31 | 10 |
mctg8r3
|
mcr5us3
|
1ipa2px
|
1ipa2px
|
[WP] As a Barbarian, you hate that just because you have a different lifestyle, your party looks down on you and assumes you are incapable of basic intelligent thought. Today you had enough.
|
It was difficult to make out anything in the dim torchlight deep underneath the ancient temple. But as the party approached a cavernous room of unknown purpose, it became clear that the walls were covered in detailed mosaics. Jet Blakk, lover, fighter, and occasional wanted man, held up his hand and the group stopped. “What do you think these are?”
Fladrock the Mauve, seer into the arcane and caster of fireballs, narrowed his eyes and consulted his ancient tome. “Hmm, they appear to be dragons of all colors together in celebration, but then they begin ripping each other to pieces. But I’ve never heard of any practice like this for dragons.”
Sister Howl, light cleric of the dark god Stinx, lowered her head in holy contemplation. “Is this some sort of dark ritual that the dragons undertook here? Have we stumbled upon the monument to their final act?”
Gronk, a barbarian from the Frozen North, scratched the one part of him that had any clothing on it at all. “No. Is clearly metaphor.”
Everyone turned to look at him.
“Whatever do you mean?” asked Fladrock, half smiling as though he could not believe his ears.
“Uhh…me not use right word? Is not actual ripping apart, is uhh representing ripping apart of dragons at bigger scale.”
“I know what a metaphor is! How do *you* know what a metaphor is?”
“Little man serious? Gronk come from oral culture, Gronk have hundreds of stories memorized. Metaphor very common device.”
He was met with stunned silence, so continued. “One story goes: there was a dragon war. No one knows who caused it. The dragons were at peace, then sudden war. Dragons after could not explain how war started. Here is metaphorical representation of it. Is critique.”
Sister Howl looked stunned. “Gronk that’s amazing. I never knew this side of you.”
Jet chuckled softly, “Guess we’re really rubbing off on you, big guy.”
“Sorry, slimy man, but Gronk not really consider you intellectual. No ever seen you learn one thing. You not even know what word ‘no’ means.” Jet started stammering. “Sorry but Gronk tired of all this surprise. You all think you big smart but never show one curiosity. Is silly.”
Sister Howl put a hand on Gronk’s shoulder. “I’m sorry you feel that way, Gronk. I guess it’s just hard for us to get past the ‘me no want go’ stuff.”
“Me very sorry no am perfect in second language. But must say that none of you speak one word of Northish. Not know how to say hello, not know how to say ‘please please no kill me am weak Southerner.’”
Fladrock spread his hands, “well however are we to learn Northish? It’s not so easy to find—”
“Me teach classes at Young Man’s Pagan Association.\* Me send you invitations but no me hear anything.”
Sister Howl’s face was red. “Ok fine but you also don’t call us by our names. ‘Little man,’ ‘slimy man,’” she sighed, “…’skinny woman.’”
Gronk shrugged. “Is funny, only. What you think Gronk stupid enough to forget names but smart enough to remember axe every day?”
There was another long silence, then Fladrock cleared his throat. “Clearly we’ve been unkind to you Gronk, and I’m sorry. If we could return to the subject at hand, is there anything on this wall that indicates what could be in the chamber below?”
Gronk stroked his chin. “Someone with critical take on history? Gronk don’t know. Bad guys never tell us what in chamber in hallway outside of chamber. Better go in and see. You want Gronk charge now?”
“Sure.”
“Yes please.”
“Go ahead and charge, Gronk.”
|
A small smile crept on to your lips as you watched the remaining party stride into the main hall after smashing down the main doors at the opposite end of a long vaulted Hall. The small group approached with looks of bewilderment and shock. Several members of the band looked around in consternation as they reached the throne where Benny the Barbarian sat cleaning his nails with a gold handled dagger. Jacob stared directly at you, eyes challenging, questioning. You soak it all in. The Truth - Sayer smiles at you through his long bearded face. How? They all seem to say. Maybe it was too much?. Bless Magda who erupted in an almighty cry of laughter once she got a glimpse of you sprawled out on the throne. The healer had a great sense of humour.
"How the hell did you of all people get in here before us?“
By now the rest of the band had gathered around the foot of the throne staring up with equal mystification and disdain. Some of the band looked on with adoration, Benny took this all in mentally noting the dark shadows on some of the warriors faces. This perhaps had been a bigger mistake than he originally thought. But Benny was nearly done with this quest. Just two more weeks of this and it will all be done he told himself. Two more weeks of the dim witted Barbarian who happened upon their ill advised voyage. He felt a stab of guilt as he swung off the throne. Bowing low he proffered the seat to Jacob. "My Lord, " he suddenly announced "the Throne is yours"
Jacob sat warily eyes still focused on the Barbarian.
"the Throne yes, but perhaps not the kingdom"
"explain yourself" Jacob ordered.
"myself, I was quite by accident brought in close vicinity of this very hall after being captured by the wall guards, who incidentally came into contact with my poisoned armour. So you see I was covering the flank in the Westwood when my accidental capture brought me into the heart of the Kingdom itself! "
A look of confusion passed over Jacobs face replaced quickly by anger.
"We don't have time for tall tales Benny, see to it that the rest of the Barbarians are covering the Westwood flank, hopefully they won't be as easily captured like you"
Benny withdrew from the hall, there was a flurry of activity as Jacob organised a quelling of the fighting still happening within the inner walls. Benny made his way back to camp. As he opened his tent flap he immediately sensed a slight disturbance along the thread of his proximity web. Stepping back he gave it a slight mental tug on the thread allowing it to fall to the floor. A smile sprang to his lips as he stepped in with a fluid bow. "Master!“ he exclaimed. The Truth - Sayer sat cross legged on the floor and Benny joined him.
"Can we please leave?" asked Benny
"Not yet" he replied.
"Tell me how you got into the inner sanctum, and spare me the abducted lies" said the Truth Sayer
"I remember looking at old maps of Cumbria on grandfather's wall, there was a very old one that showed a lake in the middle of Westwood during Fair Gandwyns rule, I remember they used to use aqua ducts a lot back then." explained Benny
"Very wise Benny, very wise, did you get it?“ asked the Truth Sayer
" of course" replied Benny producing a large white diamond the size of an chicken egg from beneath his clothes.
The Truth Sayer added it to a special pouch on his waist, looking up he caught Bennys eyes and held them for a moment. Just two more they both thought. No one needed to say it. The Truth Sayer stood up and went to the tent flap. He hesitated. "Please no more theatrics Benny, your stunt on the throne nearly got you executed and your Sister nearly blew her cover"
As he left Benny the Barbarian whispered "yes Dad".
|
nonnonnonheinous
|
sepukio
|
2023-02-13 02:14:43
|
2023-02-13 00:50:48
| 69 | 19 |
j8bisjk
|
j8b79ox
|
110gt0h
|
110gt0h
|
[WP] You, a side character, watch in horror as the MC forgives and doesn't kill the main villain, who murdered your friends and family, saying, "If I killed them, then I'd be just like them."
|
The scent of blood and smoke hangs thick in the air, coating the nose and throat with its sharp, acidic taste like a pungent candle lit in a small room. The whole neighborhood was in ruins, skyscrapers and apartment buildings crumbling to dust, the screams of those still trapped inside swiftly being silenced. It was like a horrible symphony, the sound of the wreckage continually collapsing paired with the screech of sirens, the wailing of the trapped.
And here I stand, in the midst of my ruined community, watching as the so-called ‘*hero*’ of our city reaches out a hand to the man who caused all of this.
“You’re going to jail for a long time Destructor-” The hero declares, yanking him up by his collar and binding his hands behind his back. The shining white of his untouched outfit is a heavy contrast to his surroundings, as though he were a statue that had been left untouched by the chaos of the past hour. Hair still perfectly swooped back, his body held no evidence of the fight that just concluded. Bile rose in my throat as I watched him throw the villain over his shoulder, a man that even as he was being apprehended shouted his plans to do it again, to do it on a grander scale that no ones seen before.
I stare at them, numb.
“Y-you’re really going to just- let him go?” I mutter, shocked at the display before me. Virtue Man paused, and turned to face me. Me, covered in ash and blood, both mine and my families- Me, who’d just lost everyone and everything that had ever given my simple life meaning- *Me*, who no longer had any purpose or direction in my life.
“If I kill him, how am I any better than him?” He said, in that godawful ‘holier than thou’ tone. My chest heaves with rage, my face flushing red. Bitterness floods my veins, clouds my mind. All I feel is anger, towards Virtue Man, towards Destructor, towards my bus that was five minutes late, ultimately keeping me from being in the apartment building with my loved ones when it was destroyed.
“B-better than him?” I scoff, laughing. “Better than him?! I don’t know, have you ever killed thousands of people for the hell of it? Have you ever poisoned the water supply, experimented on unwilling victims, bombed a library because, ‘the librarian gave you a dirty look’?! What the hell is wrong with you?! He’s just going to escape, and kill thousands if not millions more!” I shout, storming towards them.
“I understand your pain, but-” Virtue man began, before I cut him off.
“Understand my pain? If you understood, he would be *dead*.” I look him dead in the eye. “Everyone he’s killed since the last time he escaped? Their blood is on ***your*** hands. Every orphan, widow, or childless parent he's created? Is on your hands.”
He lets me say my peace, before responding. “I will never kill any person, no matter the reason-” He states firmly, before turning to walk away.
I just start laughing. This so-called hero would let thousands die, all because he didn't want to get his hands dirty? Fine. I look around the ruins, my eyes quickly spotting just what I was looking for. A dead officer, her gun still in hand. I move quickly, and swipe it, the gun waying heavy in my hand. I rush towards Virtue Man, and aim for the limp villain thrown over his shoulder.
I took a deep breath, remembering what my grandfather had taught me as a child, and pulled the trigger.
Because he might value keeping his hands and conscience clean, but *I* have nothing left to lose.
|
Shelia chuckled softly to herself, shoulders gently shaking.
Bran, his hand low and open in supplication was staring at her. His last words echoed in the plush club room. The male still grasping his other forearm, tears in his eyes stopped in confusion. Not once in thirty years had Guile's club had an echo.
Guile slowly released Bran's arm moving back ever so cautiously. His club was swept for bugs daily, the soundproofing in each room immaculate, his plans had never leaked before their execution due to his diligence. The echo had spread coming from too many places to be possible. ".. just like them."
"Then you are as worthless as the rest of this world Bran." Shelia looked up to them, still standing too close for blood to have not been shed. Her hazel eyes had shifted in the dim lighting to a dark mahogany. "You do have your uses for a time I suppose though." She flicked her right hand as the doors closed swiftly but whisper soft. Her left had crooked a finger toward them and chairs flew, slamming into the men's legs forcing them to sit. Making a small squeezing gesture the chair arms wrapped in the men in place.
"What is this?" Bran got out before Shelia made a zipping motion and his mouth shut. He struggled against the chairs grip but no more noise came from him. Guile had remained quiet. He knew what was coming.
"You may have noticed your hunters haven't been responding lately?" Shelia's mouth hadn't moved but her voice was wrapping through their minds like silk. She stared at Guile as she continued, "All those towns and cities where we had searched Bran. All those buildings we were finally led too. All abandoned before we arrived. They were not as empty before you decided that dawn was always the best time to 'go in'." Bran's face showed only confusion as Guile nodded slowly in acknowledgement. "Bran never questioned my need to be alone, to prepare for confrontation, before every club we visited. Tonight, at this club, I told him I could not be prepared for more disappointment. He finally decided to move swiftly." Shelia stepped back, her hands lowering to her sides as more people moved out of the shadows. Seven, in total men and women each staring at Guile while Bran writhed in his chair. The silence heavy as Guile looked around him. Realizing how many reports had been lies.
Seven voices rang out into the silence, "We are Fate Incarnate. No one and nothing can stop Fate. You may have murdered many but out of each death you orchestrated a new Fate came from the survivors. The wronged souls your people missed. Your time is done."
As one the seven bowed their heads as the shadows converged on Guile. Bran closed his eyes straining to not hear what could have been terrifying.
He heard nothing.
Bran shuddered out a soft sob as he opened his eyes to look. He was still seated but no longer restrained. His breathing loud in his own ears. Shelia was the only remaining person he could find.
"You will be spared so that you can tell what happened in its entirety. In this world of terrible deeds and good intentions there are and always will be an accounting of actions taken. You were not spared for sparing that monster. You were spared because someone needed to witness."
|
FinancialBank8293
|
Known_Sugar_5901
|
2024-03-08 20:37:02
|
2024-03-08 16:23:40
| 20 | 11 |
ktyxljl
|
ktxnso6
|
1b9dtij
|
1b9dtij
|
[WP] Your wife has a secret: shimmering, star-like wings. She loves flying, but living in a bustling city means she can only fly at night. The problem? She’s afraid of the dark and insists you to join her. But you’re terrified of heights - and unsure of her grip - leaving you in a tricky dilemma.
|
"Can I at least ask why you're wearing that silly bag?"
"Well, I can't fly. As you remember."
"That's true."
"But I can fall. So if I do, I made sure to learn how to fall."
"What does that mean?"
"I took up skydiving."
"Oh. Like you jumped out of a plane."
"I've been trying to get as many jumps as possible."
"But if I dropped you, I'd catch you."
"Remember that time we tried trust falls?"
"Yes?"
"Remember what happened when you tried to catch me?"
"...My feet weren't planted."
"I knocked you into the floor."
"That doesn't mean I couldn't catch you from up here."
"Please don't. If I fall, I'll pull the chute."
"No faith. Kind of sad."
"I'd rather have a few extra options up here."
"But I'm carrying you right now."
"I know."
"You really need to trust me more often. It's not like I constantly- Ooh crosswind!"
"A^aa^aa^aaa^h!"
"Oh no!"
^"I'm okay! I told you this was a good idea!"
"What do I do?"
*"Just let me land?"
|
To soar in the sky, amidst the stars, one with heaven as you spread your wings; is it any wonder you wish to fly? Wife of mine, I can deny you nothing on this Earth. Above it?
My hands, see how they tremble! These beads of perspiration on my brow are decidedly not the result of indulging in curry, my dear. It is a cold sweat your husband has broken into at the very thought of hanging there betwixt heaven and earth, your dainty grip the only thing separating me from the pavement.
That is why I have brought this gym rack with the pull up attachment. Grip strength, building the latissimus dorsal muscles, and general back work will make all things feasible. We'll not repeat the follies of Icarus and Daedalus! Now, drink your MAX BLASTER 24 HOUR FUEL pre-workout shake and let us proceed.
|
Jamaican_Dynamite
|
IdyllForest
|
2024-11-25 17:45:00
|
2024-11-25 17:05:25
| 31 | 10 |
lyxs16s
|
lyxk9p8
|
1gzn7gq
|
1gzn7gq
|
[WP] Super powers have started to appear in the general population. However, unlike comics, there are no secondary powers to make one immune to the actual physics of one’s power. This has led to some interesting case studies.
|
2 years ago a joint report from the WHO and 207 governments around the globe was released. The report catalogged the prevalency of superpowers appearing in humans, with the top 3 being:
1. **Super speed** (prevalence: 21,0%, fatality rate within 1 year: 73,0%, primarily due to hyper-extreme G-forces on the body)
2. **Super hearing** (prevalence: 19,3%, fatality rate within 1 year: 61,7%, primarily due to intentional suicide attributed to clinical insanity)
3. **Super strength** (prevalence: 15,1%, fatality rate within 1 year: 30,0%, primarily due to extreme bodily strain, since the super strength primarily enhanced muscle capabilities, but not the rest of the organs and bodily functions)
The statistics held up rather well, and governments have used the findings for proactive purposes, informing and educating about the dangers of unregulated super powers. The results from the efforts have been mixed.
Since the powers started appearing, there has been an immense surge in missing persons around the globe. It has so far been impossible to determine the exact cause, but there is an unmistakable correlation with the appearance of super powers.
The primary speculations have been:
1. A surge in crime, since many criminals have developed super powers.
2. Some form of power manifesting in instantaneous and complete combustion (which has been directly observed in 0,2% of the cases of super powers, but is speculated to be much higher because of the unseen incidents).
One month ago, however, the WHO report was hastily revised, after Nasa's Deep Space Network made public an internal report confidently concluding that there is a vast number of human bodies floating around in space, trailing after Earth's orbit.
The top 3 superpowers are now:
1. **Teleportation** (prevalence: est. 29,2%, fatality rate within one year: 99,7%, primarily due to teleportation of an individual not conserving the momentum of the Earth)
2. **Super speed** (prevalence: 16,0%, fatality rate within 1 year: 73,0%, primarily due to hyper-extreme G-forces on the body)
3. **Super hearing** (prevalence: 14,3%, fatality rate within 1 year: 61,7%, primarily due to intentional suicide attributed to clinical insanity)
Edit: Typos and formatting.
|
Ca - Di.
Cents, Evan S.
Codename: Flicker.
Cents had a unique ability to exist anywhere and at any time of his choosing. With it came an absolute memory that only improves over time (presumably because the brain is kept new). Like most physical types, Cents' ability had it's weights^(1).
One such hindrance was his inability to remain in one state or another (among "being" and "not being") for more than one day. He had to temporarily "not exist" for at least one picosecond, we've found. This weight forces Cents to "flicker" in and out of existence. Whenever he failed to flicker within 24 hours, he would flicker out for 24 hours; every time.
Another weight of his ability was that his memories were always in a state of "setting". This made his distant memories more vivid than his recent memories. The more distant the memory, the more vivid. The difference (in terms of clarity and accuracy) over mere weeks was exponential^(2). The worst part is that he could remember the day he was born in very fine detail. This is the weight that ultimately drove Cents to suicide, unfortunately.
The only other weight we discovered in our time studying him was that, while he could keep his clothing ad jewelry between flickers, his bodily waste would always be left behind. We could not make a connection nor offer a hypothesis for it, so we just accepted the intrinsic nature of this phenomenon and moved on; cleaning up after him as he went.
​
*1. Weights are hindrances caused by the nature of a physical, supernatural ability.*
*2. When shown the first ten-thousand decimal places of the number pi, Cents could only remember twelve decimal places by the end of the day. But by the end of the month, he remembered all ten-thousand without error and could even remember the font size and face along with the entire conversation we held before, during, and after the start of the experiment.*
|
None
|
umbrazno
|
2023-11-23 07:12:58
|
2023-11-23 04:22:52
| 70 | 33 |
kaetztx
|
kaecs9u
|
181h4ab
|
181h4ab
|
[WP] “So my mom is half-Fae, and my dad is half-dragon; that’s where my powers come from. How about you?” “I’m half-mermaid on my mom’s side, hence the wheelchair.” Your new magic school roommates suddenly turn to you. “What about you?”
|
"Me?"
"Yes, you", Elenor the half-Fae replied.
"Well, my father's a warlock, and my mother, well..."
I felt my face getting red and started fidgeting. Gods above, why do I feel so embarrassed just talking about my parents?
"Go on..."
"I really don't want to say..."
Melody the half-mermaid piped up. "Well, you had to get your powers from *somewhere* - as far as I know, warlocks can't pass their abilities onto their children," she said.
"Well, aren't you the smart one," Elenor teased.
I gulped. Time to rip the band-aid off, I guess. "My mother's [the demon my father made a pact with](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/1er8k01/wp_let_me_get_this_straight_your_patron_is_your/lhymzr5/)."
Both girls spent the next few seconds struggling to keep their laughter in. "I'm going to assume you're the firstborn?" Melody asked once she composed herself enough to speak.
"...yes."
"Well, that's one way to fulfill the bargain," Elenor remarked, still trying to keep herself together.
She then saw me glowing beet red and sighed. "If it makes you feel any better," she said, "your parents aren't the only ones who met that way."
"Really?"
"Yeah - I've heard similar stories from one of my aunts. Course, they don't always end up with children, but, you know..."
There was a moment of awkward silence before I said, "You know, that did make me feel a bit better."
"Well, good," Elenor replied. "Because stuff like this still blows my mind, no matter how often that happens!"
I groaned and buried my face in my hands. This is why I don't like talking about my parents.
|
I sipped my hot cocoa to get a moment to think before answering. I thought I'd have a few days at least to prepare for this question, but no such luck!
"Well, my mom is human." I said, still looking down into the swirling brown depths of the sweet drink.
"Of course! A lot of kids here have a full human parent! But what about your dad, what cool thing is he?" asked the quarter-dragon.
"Ummm, he's... human."
The silence dragged on for a little too long.
"No way!" said the mermaid from her chair. "Your mom had to have been messing around with your house Brownie or something!"
"She didn't. She and dad prayed. A lot. And I arrived on her 88th birthday!" I smiled brightly, hoping that would be enough to jolt them out of their reaction.
"So you're... not a witch?" "Nope." "Or a sorcerer?" "Kind of impossible."
The silence returned for a little while. Then, our almost silent half-bookwyrm roommate piped up.
"So you've got to be a cleric or a paladin, then. And since you're at this school and not a convent, you must be..."
I took a deep breath. "Yep. Paladin-in-training! No dating or skipping class or smoking in the boy's room for me!"
And there it was! That look of pity that they all tried to hide. I hated it! But I'd learned how to spin my fate as best I could.
"Just think about this, the school will probably win the rugby title every year I'm here!"
|
shingofan
|
FearlessKnitter12
|
2024-08-28 19:49:11
|
2024-08-28 19:18:17
| 103 | 24 |
lke6sjp
|
lke0yfp
|
1f3fqm4
|
1f3fqm4
|
[WP] Every 1000 years all of the Gods get together for a contest to see who can collect the most souls with a single catastrophic event. Last time Poseidon broke the 1M mark with a Tsunami/earthquake combo. You’re up.
|
"You're up, Ares. Let's see what you can do."
I smiled. After all, human technology has vastly improved since a thousand years ago. There was even a convenient area that could be influenced.
Whispers of promise to one monarch and have him get rid of his advisor. Whispers of fear and paranoia to another. Overall, it was ready soon.
And so, in only a couple years, it was time to enact the final step of the plan. Yes, you can say the setup process is unfair, but the tsunamis and earthquakes needed moving crust as well, so it's all fair game.
I found the right person, angry and vengeful, and began my final whispers. All he had to do was take one of their beautiful new weapons, a gun, and kill an archduke.
Finally, on the 28th of June, 1914, Gavrilo Princip was in position and ready. Finally, the shot came with a bang.
And so, over the next four years, twenty million human souls were collected.
|
Gods... Laughable excuses for divinity. Poseidon always bragging about his kills, Zeus throwing lightning, Odin's Ragnarok, it's all a joke. They know nothing of what it means to take a soul. The cost for all involved.
But I'll show them.
I smile as a whisper into the ears of mortals, "what if God's don't exist?"
I don't need some big event, some crowning glory to flex my divinity. All I need is the seed of doubt, for if they don't believe, they lose their souls not just for this lifetime, but for eternity.
Darkness reigns
I smile as my work is done, for the greatest trick this devil ever pulled, was to convince the world we Gods don't exist.
|
DickCubed
|
BeardyMansMoustach
|
2023-04-09 16:23:05
|
2023-04-09 12:18:47
| 26 | 15 |
jfl3yvg
|
jfk96lr
|
12g5br3
|
12g5br3
|
[WP] You believe in lucky pennies. When you find one the wrong side down, you flip it so the next person can get the luck. One day you hear an annoyed voice telling you to knock it off.
|
"Will you stop that already!?"
I was still crouching on the ground when I heard the voice. Startled, I get up my back and look at my surroundings, there's no one.
"You, yes, you, stop flipping my coins!"
I keep scanning my surroundings with a worried expression. Maybe I was starting to lose my mind finally after so many years of mental health issues, for which I developed multiple tics like leaving all pennies on the ground face up to calm me down.
"Hey! Down here! Don't pretend you don't see me!"
I look to the ground where the penny is. I don't know how I did not notice this before, there was a very small insect next to the coin. It was a... red bee?
"Are you talking to me?"
"Well, for sure there's no one else here!. Stop flipping my coins! I spend day in and day out putting them face down to meet my quota and you do nothing but screw my work!"
At this point i'm visibly confused. I look around to see if there is someone, nothing. I must be losing it completely, this is bad, and then it hit me: quota?.
"Waaa..wi...wait, what do you mean by quota?"
"Dude, you think luck is infinite? There's a balance that must be kept! We can't put all the coins side up! that would have terrible repercussions! So we split in to teams, one leaves coin side up, the other side down, so that the person doesn't get the luck but keeps the hope!"
"So... all the pennies in the world are delivered by... bees?"
"No you dum dum!, we just flip them according to quota, not everyone can get their luck, but at least some people can. And now, STOP - FLIPPING - MY - COINS!"
The bee took flight at a rather remarkable speed (for a bee that is) and left me with more questions than answers. I guess it's time for my medication.
|
It was another bland, overcast day as I walked home from school. It was always overcast in Pennyville. It was about thirty minutes into my long walk home when I noticed a penny lying on the ground.
I got excited as I picked up speed to look at it. Whenever I picked up a lucky penny, something good always happened the next day. Proof? Last time I did, my crush asked me out. Please, please be tails... I thought quietly to myself.
Heads.
Damn. I sighed as I bent down and flipped it over.
"Will you knock it off already, kid?" An exasperated voice suddenly exclaimed at me from nearby. Surprised, I quickly straightened and looked around – yet there was no one to be seen.
"Down here, asshole!"
The voice was indeed coming from below me. Surely it wasn't coming from the penny, though? Was this some kind of prank?
Then the penny on the ground flipped itself, standing upright. "Every bloody time I see you, you have to go and flip me over! I don't get many chances to see the light, you know? And every now and then, a woman walks past me in a skirt! I can't see anything with you out here, flipping me over all the time!"
The penny then started slowly rolling on it's side, and then down onto the curb. "Oh geez, now look what you've done! I can't stop myself! Help me!"
I went to step on the penny before it went any further, but too late – it slipped down a drain.
"You okay?" My voice echoed down the drain.
There was a soft clink, but no reply.
I shrugged, and continued walking home.
|
oscarcp
|
Standard-Method8293
|
2023-05-29 13:40:41
|
2023-05-29 10:43:00
| 91 | 34 |
jm2hsbo
|
jm1ztvk
|
13ug5om
|
13ug5om
|
[WP] The Dragon overslept by a few millennia, and has woken up in the far far future where the once-small villages are now megacities of glass, the sheep are now robotic and worse of all, there are no more princesses to kidnap.
|
The dragon strained against the metal cables holding him down. The humans had given him food: strange cubes of meat, all sheep-muscle and no blood. He was no longer ravenous, merely frustrated. His valley had been all wrong: the human thatch-roofed huts were gone, replaced with glass spires that towered above the trees; the fields had strange metal machines instead of cows and horses; even the air had smelled strange. And then the humans had come with fast arrows and metal nets that had brought him down and tied him to the ground.
One human strode toward him now. She was dressed in the plain, muted clothes he’d expect from a peasant, but he recognized her bearing. She smelled right.
“Princess,” the dragon growled, recalling human speech.
The princess tapped her ear once. “My name is Dinia Var,” she said at last. “I’m the executive secretary for the Committee for Extraordinary Affairs.” She smiled. “I suppose that does make me something like a princess. And you are Aragoth the Devourer. I read a story about you when I was little, you know.”
The dragon had no use for human names, but he knew what to do with princesses. He lunged forward with all his strength – but the metal cables held. This princess didn’t even flinch.
“This isn’t the world you remember, is it?” she said. “There’s no place for you here. The Committee for Homeworld Stewardship wants to put you on display, you know. A special dragon preserve. Cloned sheep to eat. A new princess to kidnap every week.” She paused. “And a knight to rescue her unharmed.”
At ‘sheep’ the dragon felt his hunger grow again. He wanted to hunt. He wanted to devour. He didn’t know all the words the princess said, but he understood that he wouldn’t really be hunting. Not in a way that would sate his hunger.
“But,” the princess continued. “Did you know there are other worlds up in the sky? Past the sky. Worlds with wide-open space, and real live cattle, and gold, and princesses who aren’t yet willing to join the Commonwealth?”
The dragon slowly brought his big eyes level with the princess. He felt a spark of recognition. She was like him, he saw. She was a hunter too. And she was hungry.
“Come work for me,” she said. “And you can devour until you’re sated.”
|
Callahan yawned. He stretched and stood up, breaking his rough, rocky exoskeleton that forms around dragons when they sleep. Keeps unwanted adventurers from murdering them in their sleep. The dragon opened his eyes and looked around. After a few seconds had passed, however, he realized his lair was not the same cave he was in when he fell asleep. He looked around, and realized his gold and jewels had all disappeared, and his ancient artifacts were gone as well.
Callahan roared in anger! Clearly, some knight had stolen his hoard! Callahan burst out of the cave-in entrance to his cave and froze in his tracks. The town built around his lair had given way to a bustling metropolis, with the tallest buildings Callahan had ever seen, and people living without fear of him. He took to the sky to get a better view.
As he flew he chomped on a large, metal bird. It was crunchy, and tasted strangely like human. He flew over the city, searching for something familiar. Callahan soared towards the tallest building, and perched on top of it to get a better view. His claws crushed the glass windows and his weight seemed to push the skyscraper down into the ground. Callahan took a deep breath. The air was surprisingly clear, despite the apparent mechanical uprising. As he sat on the tower, several small flying carriages flew up to him with flashing lights. A man steeped out of one of the carriges, holding a cone-shaped object.
"PLEASE REMOVE YOURSELF FROM THE OFFICE BUILDING," The man shouted. "WE DO NOT WANT ANY CONFLICT."
"How amusing," Callahan growled. "If you dont mind, how long was I asleep?"
The man looked to the driver of the flying carriage, who seemed to check a metal tablet before speaking to the first man, who looked back to Callahan.
"SEVERAL THOUSAND YEARS, ACCORDING TO OUR DATABASES."
Callahan scowled. if that were true, then his hoard was likely long gone from here.
"Thank you for your service, men." Callahan reared back, and flew away from the tower. He'd have to find his gold somewhere else.
(Edits:formatting)
|
prejackpot
|
BigBradWolf07
|
2023-01-24 18:31:16
|
2023-01-24 16:49:03
| 70 | 37 |
j5ppp3v
|
j5p8v0o
|
10k6uok
|
10k6uok
|
[WP] The public's hate for super heroes has grown. The reason: They don't kill villains, which gives them a chance to escape. You are the leader of the biggest anti-super hero groups. You are going from a rally you get stopped by some of the greatest heroes. They say they're here to kill you.
|
It was definatly a moment. One- being kidnapped in my sleep wasn't pleasant. Woke up with brushes. Two- learning that the Orcs also believe in my gods. That was more than shocking to say the least. Turns out they favor the older scripts, which I understand. Three- they want me to bless a marriage, never did that before and FOUR- they have a chieftain. Today was just full of surprises.
Still, I understand and saw the reasoning behind what they did. Blessing for marriages are no joke. We have not only several examples of why in our scriptures but also have a WHOLE SET OF GODS dedicated to it. I couldn't refuse- even though one of the gods I talk to regularly told me I could.
"You are not bound to this work." Moss Phlox the god of forging said to me as I prayed over a set of rings to bless them. "You do not need to do this."
"Yes," I said, "But I want to."
I felt his hammer pass through me, something he does when he blesses people meaning he had either blessed me or the rings, and I couldn't help but giggle like a child. I moved on next to the flowers for the wedding.
Unlike most flowers, the goddess Flora resigned over these. She was known to be the one to unite animals and flowers in a way that wasn't done before. So if you have allergies to any type of pollen you can blame her. I found her standing over the wedding flowers as she was taking a deep breath of them in. No one else could see her and even a few orcs walked through her a few times.
"Flora." I walked to her and knelt down next to her, also taking a quick whiff of the flowers. "I've seen you already blessed this bunch."
"Yes," she said, "I was a bit too excited for this wedding."
"Why?"
"My daughter, Thyme, is great friends with both the Cheiftain and her soon to be wife."
"I see." I started giggling again. "I'll make sure every part of this is blessed and goes well."
"I know." She smiled and lowered her voice. "I trust you."
One after the other, bit by bit, I went and made sure every part of the wedding was perfect. From the dresses to the stones, nothing was left unblessed. I even got to see other gods and goddesses, it was such a huge ceremony. The last thing I had to do was see was the chieftain and her bride- although that last one I wouldn't get to see until right before she walks down the isle.
Then it happened. I saw the chieftain in her gown for the first time. "Snapdraggon?" I couldn't believe my eyes.
She turned to me and gasped. "ROSEMARY?!"
Feeling her embrace after long years of separation was something I never thought I'd feel ever again.
"It's been years!"
"I know! And you're getting married?!"
"Yeah!"
"To who?!" I demanded to know. The small blush and quick darting eyes and hesitation told me all I needed to know. "You sly dog."
"Hush..." She turned as red as her hair. "It's, like, what ever."
"Okay, okay." I laughed. "Let's make sure this goes well..."
Snapdragon was half orc. Despite looking more human as a teenager, she slowly grew into more of her orc features over time. She still looks very much human but with now the cutest of tusks and a nice light shade of green in her skin.
Soon the wedding was going to start and I finally got to see her. Snapdragon's beautiful bride, "Amaryllis."
"Oh shit," Am said, "It's you again! How's it going Rosemarry?"
"Great and you'll soon see how much better it is after everything's been blessed." I tried to hold back my excitement. "Some of the gods even decided to pay a visit."
"Hopefully the god Dretch is there."
"Huh? Why?"
"She owes me money."
We laughed until someone else told up the wedding has to start. I said my see-ya-laters and left to get to my spot. Everything seemed fine, I saw most of my old friends, saw plenty of the other gods- even VINCA- man I haven't seen her since she brought me back to life, and I saw new friends with the old. Everything was perfect until-
"I OBJECT!" Came shooting out from Sage's mouth as she hovered over the wedding in her storm cloud.
|
Jason slammed on the brakes as five supers dropped, materialized, popped into existence or just appeared in front of us. My seat belt dug painfully into my shoulder, and with a quick hand I managed to not implant my face into the composit material. Small miracles.
In front of us stood Salute, Mercer, Polly, Vista and Klick, all members of the top ten club. They sneered at Jason and me in our car, just having left a very successful anti-supers rally. I knew what this was about, I was prepared for what was to come and casually unbuckled my seatbelt. Climbing out the five stood resolute, Salute being the sole supe present with a cape that flapped in a non-existent breeze. How utterly pretentious.
"Michael Swornhammer, your efforts to defame and slander our good names come to an end, here and now." Salute said. So he was the leader of this particular group, interesting. The other four nodded in agreement, though Mercer looked more bored than anything else.
"What, are you going to arrest me? On what charges? Just like the villains you so often fight always end up free within days, if not weeks, it'll be the same for me."
A sinister grin crept across Salutes face, "No," he growled, "We're here to kill you." he took a menacing step forward, I didnt budge.
"No, you won't." his grin faded, just a bit.
"Yes, we will. It'll be made to look like an accident and no one will be the wiser."
"Man, when whatever entity decided you all get powers, they definitely did not see fit to give you two braincells to rub together between the five of you." Salutes grin quickly turned to an angry scowl while Mercer laughed hysterically. Polly, Vista and Klick all shared the same look of shock and indignation, it was delicious.
Salutes voice dropped to an angry growl, "And how do you figure that, Michael?"
"Oh, it's simple, really. No matter what you do or say, with my death I will become a martyr. People will know, or at the very least suspect that the supes had something to do with my death. The public will slowly lose trust in all of you. No matter how much good you try to do, there will always be that thread of doubt, that suspicion. The harder you try, the more it will appear that you're making up for a guilty conscious, and it will all but be confirmed that you killed me. Even if you don't change, public perception will change."
Salutes resolve crumbled, and the rest of the group with him, except Mercer. His smooth faced helmt belied no emotion, but his body language told me enough, he thought this was hilarious.
"But you're eroding the publics confidence in us already. It's a lose-lose for us. If what you say is true, that is." Vista spoke up from the edge of the group.
"Well, one brain cell is firing at least. You are correct, Vista, but you all are missing a key point: if you make the changes we're calling for, you're all that much more heroic. You heard the people and changed for them, no doubt, no guilt attached. Fail to change, and well, you're in the same place as you are now." I made eye contact with each of the hero's, in the case of Mercer I locked my gaze onto his helmet.
"Take responsibility for the consequences that came with your powers, it's that simple. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm overdue for a meeting with my campaign manager."
I climbed back in the car and nodded to Jason. He slowly accelerated despite the supes still blocking our way, but they gave way as the car rolled toward them. They knew I was right, and their lack of brains made it so they never saw any other options. If this is the best the world has to offer, I greatly fear for our own future.
Edit: on mobile, fixed a few words and grammar. Also added a couple of more paragraphs to add some more depth to the story.
|
CameoShadowness
|
TheReturned
|
2023-12-15 18:43:43
|
2023-10-03 19:50:02
| 85 | 40 | null |
k3bufn0
|
1kkfonn
|
16ypys1
|
[WP] The hero is 16, he raises his wand. The villain steps into a time warp. Now the hero is 26, with a wife and two kids. Just fired, behind on the mortgage, the car blew its transmission. What else could go wrong? The "villain" reappears.
|
“Reformation.”
“What?” The devil asks incredulously.
“He arrived at Heaven’s Gate with a frown on his face. When I asked him, ‘what was the matter’ he looked at me with the most gentle eyes. For a while he did not speak but I could *feel* his sorrow. It was as if…” the angel hesitated. “It was as if he was *suffering*.”
“Suffering? In Heaven?! Have the end of days come already?!” The devil’s laugh reverberated the very caustic air around him. “So then did he say anything?”
“Yes. He did.”
His response was short and solemn.
For many centuries the devil has known the angel to be haughty and condescending but never has he seen this look on him before. “How pitiful” he thought, withdrawing his smile a bit but still very much amused.
“He said, ‘While I was living, there were so many men and women who needed salvation. Hunger, illness, and strife plagued the lands. Many died and many more have suffered. Humanity has sinned to merely live a basic life. There was no livelihood! For what reason did they wrought each day?! A warm meal?! A warm bed?! Good health?!’” The angel stopped as if there was a lump in his throat.
“Speak, angel, I shall hear more of this” said the devil impatiently.
“People who have sinned have lost God’s favor…” the angel spoke almost in a whisper. “He said, ‘It was not their fault for being seduced by needing what they did not have. But what happened did happen. I did all I could to mend those pour souls while I was still living. But now… now I must give salvation to those who have lost their way. Once more. Please. Please allow me to go to the land of sinners. I want to give them the restitution of peace with the sacrifice of my own blood and soul. I want to give them salvation.”
The devil bellowed. “WHAT?!? THAT’S THE MOST PREPOSTEROUS THING I’VE HEARD IN ETERNITY!” The volcanic geysers erupted behind them as he huffed and he snarled. But after pondering for a moment, he grinned again. “I must meet this mortal. Who is he? I’ll be sure to give him a warm welcome. If he desires to help these tormented things then he shall be given the chance to do so.” There was a glint in his dark eyes.
The angel pointed to the man in the distance whom was peering down into pits of hell. He gestured for him to come over. As he approached his fair olive skin glistened with sweat from the smoldering heat and his long brown hair danced about just as the ashes and smoke that breathed on his face. He had an ascetic and austere figure but his cadence was the embodiment of grace. His face expressed modesty and serenity but his eyes, just as the angel had said, was filled with grief and sorrow. Oh but his eyes! There was something more! There was anguish. But there was also fierceness. It had conviction in them, a sort of crazed forlorn hope that seemed to burn brighter than the flames surrounding him. The devil stood bewildered. It took some time before he finally noticed this but the man before him was no mere mortal. His very soul emanated and radiated light on his skin like armor.
The man stopped a few steps away from the devil and angel and opened his mouth to speak.
“Hello. My name is Jesus. I am the son of God.”
|
The demon's flames died down a little as he leans on his desk looking back at the paperwork and then to the angel
"A mortal... wants to be in hell..."
"Yes"
"And he sinned but his repentance was accepted"
"Yes"
"Then send him to heaven" the demon snarled, slamming the paperwork back down "why waste time and break the rules for this mortal, has God finally lost his mind!"
"Its exactly blasphemous remarks like that which is the reason you're no longer allowed in heaven" the angel rebuttled.
The angel sheepishly looks around before speaking again "honestly I don't think he should be here either but the higher ups didn't want to put up with him anymore"
She pauses, looking at the souls before finally back at the now messy desk. "But this mortal he's strange, insists he has a VIP ticket and absolutely MUST enter hell"
The demon now confused and dumbfounded whispered to the angel "are you sure this guy is mentally okay, shouldn't you guys have helped them with that after they died."
The angel laughs for a while before leaving leaving a very perplexed demon. After what feels like no time at all a bright soul in a white shirt, red tie and black trousers walks to the desk and slams his hand on the table.
"One entrance to hell please"
The demon, once again disturbed from his work stands up before bellowing "is this some kind of JOKE to you?! This is important stuff yet you angels have nothing better to do?!"
"But I have a VIP ticket" he reaches into his pocket and reveals a golden ticket passing it to the now horrified demon. "Also it says I can bring a plus 1 so I bring my emotional support demon"
The demon who had now given up stands agasp expression unchanging. "Yes... yes right this way"
The gate swings open revealing the fiery landscale littered with needles, brimstone, blackjack and, of course, the souls of the damned
As the soul with a now menacingly wide smile entered the gates slammed shut again locking all in. The panicked demon picks up the phone.
"Lucifer! I.."
"You shall address me as my lord, understood?"
"Yes, my lord, apolgies for my rudeness"
"Now why would you be calling? It best be important" A now infutiated devil impatiently snapped
"He's here sir... The Click is here..."
"WHY DIDNT YOU SAY SOONER!" From that point only crashing and clamouring can be heard before an opening of a door brings silence. "Oh satan I'm finally glad to meet you *"
The demon hangs up before placing a sign on his desk which read "gone for lunch" and in that moment a mass emigration of demons unknown to history ocurred.
=========================================
To those who dont know what this randomness is just watch the intro to a video of a ytber called the Click and you'll likely get it
*I couldnt bring myself to type uwu here
I'm already ashamed of myself for this and apologies if its not that good I've never done a story before
|
TikkiTakiTomtom
|
receuitOP
|
2023-06-29 23:50:04
|
2023-06-29 23:23:53
| 39 | 20 |
jq2awc5
|
jq27dus
|
14m6mdv
|
14m6mdv
|
[WP] "I will grant you a wish. BUT... your gain will be someone else's loss. If you want riches, someone will be stripped of theirs. If you want health, someone will fall ill. If you want love, someone will get their heart broken. And whatever you choose, that someone will know your name."
|
"All right genie, I'm ready now," I said, thinking over my wish carefully in my head. It had been an hour since I'd rubbed the lamp, and I had spent that hour carefully considering this wish's implications. I know that the genie would be getting impatient, but at this point her curiosity would be getting the better of her. She smiled at me.
"All right human, what is it you wish to take?"
"Great genie, if I only have one wish, then I wish to be a vampire!" I declared, smiling triumphantly. She looked at me, clearly puzzled.
"Excuse me, what? Perhaps I misheard?"
"You heard me clearly, genie. I wish to be a vampire!"
"Uhh, alright then," she sighed, scratching her head. She sighed again and began preparing to grant my wish. She chanted her spell, and I felt the magic flowing through her. And then, right at the climax of her power, she suddenly stopped. "No, you know what, screw it. Before this very moment you didn't even know that vampires actually existed, and now you're wishing to become one. Why the hell would you waste your one, *one* singular wish on *that*?!"
"Because," I began, "somewhere out there, a vampire is going to wake up and they're not going to be a vampire anymore. And when that happens, it's going to be really, *really* funny."
|
I smiled as I looked at the genie. His eyes narrowed, and my smile grew.
"I wish for money, Genie, I really do. I wish for power, friendship and love. All of it to be true and to never be paranoid that it's because of my status. Genie I wish to always have control of my words, my bowels and my faculties. I wish that if I were to ever go up in any form of competition that I win, no matter what kind. I wish to be remembered for all my good deeds, for them to outshine all of my bad. But most of all, and Genie please, you must grant this one most of all." I paused, and took a deep breath as the Genie raised his hand, ready to snap his fingers, his own face twisted in a sick and horrific expression. "I wish all of the terrible consequences of these wishes to happen to one man."
His face fell, and filled instead with sick curiosity.
"Who do you hate so much to wish this upon, human?"
"Donald Trump."
He snapped his fingers, and though I knew I was doomed to live a boring, hollow life I was content.
|
AquariusBlue899
|
Averander
|
2024-05-26 02:31:39
|
2024-05-26 00:39:33
| 1,093 | 121 |
l5p0csc
|
l5omeba
|
1d0ns4y
|
1d0ns4y
|
[WP] "You are the chosen one. The prophecy says that every 273 years-" "Wait, why isn't it a round number? Sorry, no can do" "Are you really denying your destiny over this?" "Uhh... yeah?"
|
"Well, over 70% of our Earth is covered with water, so I guess you could call it the Blue Planet and..."
"Didn't our oceans dry up so it became the Yellow Planet?"
"Huh?"
"Didn't we have an all-out war that covered everything in dust, so we became a Gray Planet?"
""Huh?!""
It's been 10 years since many, many heroes were summoned to different parts of this world. Not all of us survived, but those who did are now assembling here before the final battle.
I knew that the people here were from different planets, but different time periods??? How does that even work???
"Okay, anyone from Earth, please come here!"
As I waited for the earthlings to gather, I noticed similar groups forming all over the place. We are going to fight a big evil or something in a few days, but this is a more urgent matter I guess.
When about 30 people joined our circle, I spoke again.
"Where do I even begin?.. Uh... World War I started in 1914, the Se-"
"There's more???"
"...The Second World War started in 1939, and the Third?.."
I pause and look around. Come on, there were those guys from the future, where is-
"Do you by any chance mean the First True World War?"
"The first what?"
"It happened in 2202. Unlike the two "world" wars, in the True World War everyone could participate. And I mean, like, \*everyone\*."
"Dear God... Okay, screw that. Let's go centuries. The 21st began with the rapid growth of digital technologies, the 22nd with..."
"The discovery of many, many alternative energy sources."
"Great. But wait, then why were the oceans dry by the beginning of TWWI?"
"Um, said 'alternative energy sources' mostly had something to do with boiling water and..."
"...Whatever."
Okay, at least we are getting somewhere. Let's just ask a few more questions and we can move o-
"Excuse me, are you talking about Earth One or Earth Two?.. W-why are you all looking at me like that?"
I'm done with this shit.
|
I was taking a nice peaceful walk along the riverside when they appeared suddenly, out of nowhere, a strong light emanating downwards while they spiralled around me.
They looked otherworldly, and beautiful, with ethereal robes. They were singing in beautiful Carnatic music, with 2 mouths one on each head. Each head was keeping in sync with itself as well as the rest of the choir group.
Their faces had round glasses, the sort people wear in offices because the LED from the monitors disturbed them, on their forehead was a little spiky dot with 13 spikes emanating.
Upon closer inspection I noticed that each one had 6 limbs, 3 around their two heads, with 3 to walk with. Upon closer inspection I saw that each of these limbs had 7 ridges, with 13 digits on each.
Their leader in the middle of the choir spoke up:
"You are the chosen one. The prophecy says that every 273 years-" He sang
I asked "Wait, why isn't it a round number?"
"What? " The leader asked.
"Why isn't it a round number?" I asked again.
"Because it's the basis for our counting system" He replied. "You see, we count with our three hands, each of which have 7 ridges, with 13 digits on each. It helps, you know"
"So anyway, as I was saying, once every"
Sorry, no can do" I said firmly.
He said "But why not? You're the chosen one. "
"Ya so? It's not a round number" I said.
"What is a round number anyway?" He asked perplexed. "Anything that ends with 10" I said.
"Are you really denying your destiny over this?" He asked
"Uhh... yeah?" I told him.
"What if I got you a pizza?" He asked.
I pondered over it for a moment and replied - "Sounds perfect! I'm in. "
|
_nitlott
|
Joydipto
|
2025-03-05 20:58:53
|
2024-07-10 14:51:06
| 217 | 15 |
mg7q9k4
|
lcioqgw
|
1j46wfn
|
1dzv5h0
|
[WP] "You are the chosen one. The prophecy says that every 273 years-" "Wait, why isn't it a round number? Sorry, no can do" "Are you really denying your destiny over this?" "Uhh... yeah?"
|
I shifted in my chains, getting a better look at my two cellmates. "I've never seen it from orbit, but the pictures show it like a big blue and green ball, with some deserts that you can see. Most of the surface is ocean, but there is a lot of land. Some of the land is super dry and sandy, some of it is juggle, like yours." I gestured to the one on the right. "There are places that are really cold and covered in snow, but I lived in some big grassy plains" Talking about home felt good, And I got more excited as I went on. It made the journey a little more bearable. "What are your home planets called?"
"Marei is how it best translates to the Earth language. I don't think you can pronounce the proper name without gills though." The alien on my left said with a chuckle.
"We call ours Aubor."
"Cool. On earth there are a lot of different nations. Different people in different parts of the planet had names for their part. I come from the united States of America. Do you guys have anything like that?
"We do," The Auborian said. "Its kinda based on the type of trees that grow in an area. Where I live the trees are really tall and dense. I think you humans call it a jungle, which I find funny because it sounds a little like Iungi, which is what we call our land. You can tell where someone is from based on the patterns on their coat." She gestured to the black striping pattern on her dark brown fur. "It helps us blend in to the surroundings."
"I don't think we have things like that, my tribe just traveled around, we never stayed in a particular place for long. When we meet other groups of Mareisti, we will usually stay together a few days and trade. That's also how most of us find a mate."
We talked for hours over the course of the trip. Getting kidnapped almost seemed like a bad dream, though the chains were still an uncomfortable reminder. After a long while, we faded off to sleep.
|
I was taking a nice peaceful walk along the riverside when they appeared suddenly, out of nowhere, a strong light emanating downwards while they spiralled around me.
They looked otherworldly, and beautiful, with ethereal robes. They were singing in beautiful Carnatic music, with 2 mouths one on each head. Each head was keeping in sync with itself as well as the rest of the choir group.
Their faces had round glasses, the sort people wear in offices because the LED from the monitors disturbed them, on their forehead was a little spiky dot with 13 spikes emanating.
Upon closer inspection I noticed that each one had 6 limbs, 3 around their two heads, with 3 to walk with. Upon closer inspection I saw that each of these limbs had 7 ridges, with 13 digits on each.
Their leader in the middle of the choir spoke up:
"You are the chosen one. The prophecy says that every 273 years-" He sang
I asked "Wait, why isn't it a round number?"
"What? " The leader asked.
"Why isn't it a round number?" I asked again.
"Because it's the basis for our counting system" He replied. "You see, we count with our three hands, each of which have 7 ridges, with 13 digits on each. It helps, you know"
"So anyway, as I was saying, once every"
Sorry, no can do" I said firmly.
He said "But why not? You're the chosen one. "
"Ya so? It's not a round number" I said.
"What is a round number anyway?" He asked perplexed. "Anything that ends with 10" I said.
"Are you really denying your destiny over this?" He asked
"Uhh... yeah?" I told him.
"What if I got you a pizza?" He asked.
I pondered over it for a moment and replied - "Sounds perfect! I'm in. "
|
ArmedParaiba
|
Joydipto
|
2025-03-05 21:46:50
|
2024-07-10 14:51:06
| 87 | 15 |
mg80po3
|
lcioqgw
|
1j46wfn
|
1dzv5h0
|
[WP] The Gods have come to a consensus and have decided to take back that fire thing that was stolen from them. Man can no longer contain, control or create fire. Fire is once again solely the domain of The Gods
|
The Gods fed up by humanity's ignorance, and pride have taken back Fire from man.
Humanity can no longer contain, control or create fire.
Fire once more, belongs solely in the domain of the Gods.
The Gods expected prayer to intensify, and despair to spread amongst the people.
Indeed the number of prayers increased, but not by much, and Hades' domain welcomed the same number of souls each day as before.
How did this happen?
On a quick glance, it's been already years for humanity since the Gods took Fire back.
The lands were littered with shrines, and hearths, as all caravans, all armies, all travelers were carrying with them hearths of varied sizes.
Fire returned to the domain of Gods, but some Gods didn't prohibit its usage.
Hestia's flames still protected one's house, and family.
Hephaestus' flames still heated the furnaces, and melted the ores.
These two alone ensured that humanity didn't collapse.
Of course, it wasn't without challenges.
Cooking, and meals became rituals, as to not upset Hestia by using her flames for cooking.
Hunting, and eating while away from home became a much more complex chore.
Humanity's ingeniously created, and blessed smaller hearths, and carried them everywhere, to have a flame to warm them, to cook their food with.
The blessings of the Gods were getting more and more used, as humanity needed more help than before, yet this help came from a few select Gods.
This didn't sit well with everyone, especially since wars, and conflicts became less common, as hearths blessed by a family would shatter if said family would be completely eradicated.
And hearths were too valuable to be risked.
"Hestia! Hephaestus!
How dare you try to monopolize the mortals!" Ares's booming voice echoed through Mount Olympus.
Hephaestus ignored him, while Hestia gently smiled.
"We agreed to take back Fire, and we did that.
The flames of the Hearth are mine." she said.
"The furnaces heat is mine, and mine alone." Hephaestus chimed in.
Ares snorted.
"Yet due to you giving it to humans willingly, nay, not even taking it back in the first place, but just forbidding them from spreading it without your approval, you made yourselves indispensable to them." Athena said.
"Like Demeter, Poseidon, or Zeus is?
We all decided on this, not our fault you haven't foreseen this outcome...Athena." Hestia said.
Mount Olympus shook for a while afterwards, but soon it calmed down.
While upset, the Gods weren't completely against this outcome.
After all, humanity indeed once more, relied solely on them, and their wanton destruction also subsided, with the lack of the chance to weaponize fire.
|
It had been 31 years since the gods turned back the clock on man's ability to make fire, 31 years since Ted had lost his family in the orgies of blood and violence that followed the breakdown of society as they knew it, 31 years since the apocalypse. But only 5 years since New Athens, thought by many to be the last bastion of civilization in the US, was stripped and looted to its bare, skeletal foundations by petty warlordism, its citizens routed and doomed to wander as prey animals in the vast American wilderness, or worse the desolate, crumbling cities that dotted the midwest.
'At least the only thing you have to worry about out here are the elements,' he thought to himself. 'And the odd bear's only liable to eatcha. I'd take that over being caught by a band of nuts.'
He shook off the memories like a wet dog does water, continuing his awkward walking crouch past the thick brush and toward the foxtrap he'd put down the night previous. He heard a frantic rattling noise and screaming yips as he neared the spot, which had him springing up and rushing forward, caution be damned and he was probably alone for miles out anyway and hadn't eaten in days and even if his recklessness got him killed what did it matter.
The fox was enmeshed in the trap, turning like it was chasing its own tail in its distress. It stilled as he stomped into view. Its hackles rose and it bit at the cage.
Ted picked up a rock, opened the cage door and bashed its brains out. He ran his fingers along its tawny summer coat. The faint smell of gore filled the air.
It used to disgust Ted once, but now his stomach only burbled in hunger. He grabbed the dead fox and draped its corpse over the elbow of a nearby tree and, hauling himself up, eventually made it over the uppermost branch. He leaned down and snagged the fox by its tail, unsheathed his skinning knife and beginning his grisly work, jittery at the prospect of feeding, the pelt shoddy because of it.
Once he'd skinned the creature, he tore off a long strip of naked, pearlescent flesh and, hunched over the carcass, began to eat, hands and mouth bloody, his yellowed teeth tearing and grinding at the gamy flesh of his prey, looking, from a distance, more like a leopard than a man, especially as evening darkened to night, as harsh angles became harsher, and what was previously clear and ordered was thrown into confusion.
|
TheWanderingBook
|
Expensive-Fly-7058
|
2025-02-26 12:36:06
|
2025-02-26 12:35:36
| 153 | 48 |
mevj3vo
|
mevj1bp
|
1iyl8pz
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1iyl8pz
|
[WP] A cruel prank by your bullies leaves you separated from the rest of the class. Instead of finding your way back, you decide to "go missing" and let the consequences catch up to them.
|
I groan softly as I come to a stop after sliding down a steep rocky slope. I rest for a moment before slowly starting to move, checking myself for injuries and fortunately for myself, I’m largely uninjured other than some scrapes and gravel rash, my large heavy backpack protecting me from the worst of the fall.
As I sit up, I hear panic from above the slope as the ‘classmates’ who pushed me never realized that the heavy backpack that contained the group’s food would make me overbalance when they pushed me. Their ‘prank’ has resulted in their food going down with the victim, I know they’re not worried about punishment as I’m the school’s unofficial whipping boy. Someone does something, even if I’m at the doctor’s getting treated for injuries and I get the blame for it.
I smirk to myself knowing that the forest is haunted, small groups are fine but, solo travellers are at risk of running afoul of the supernatural. The rest of the students also know the reputation which is why they finally tried to get rid of me with plausible deniability. What they don’t know is that I frequently hang out with my uncle who is one of the local rangers responsible for the park.
I slowly walk up the creek, moving away from where I fell, I know there will be a search party sent out when I am reported missing, and I don’t want to be found just yet. I should be safe from most of the occult entities that reside in the forest, my uncle has taught me how to respect them and even introduced me to some of the more benign entities.
Once I find myself in a small cave that houses the spring where the creek emerges from and smile, I’ve got clean water, especially if I boil it. I then take inventory of my food. Even though the camping trip was over night, they made sure there was two days of food just in case and I was carrying enough food to last six people two days.
I smirk to myself. Food, shelter, food and cooking supplies. Even if must make offerings to the natural or otherwise creatures of the forest, I still have a comfortable week’s food. I then smirk as I look at my small action camera and go through the footage. I’ve finally got the evidence needed to take down the bullies and the corrupt school officials who protect them.
Teacher’s kids don’t get punished; the kids they bully get their punishments instead is the one lesson that was painfully burned into my brain during my years of torture. This is time to get revenge. The longer I hold out, the more attention I will get from higher authorities, and they won’t be able to cover this up.
I open a pack of chips and start to eat before slowly noticing a small rat sniffing around my pack. I go to shoo it before instead reaching into my bag of chips and take a large one out to offer to the rat. If I’m going to be living here for the next few days, the last I can do is pay my way to the locals.
The rat takes the chip and drags it away to eat in peace and I smile. I don’t have a tent, but I do have a cave and its summer, so the night won’t get too cold. I proceed to build a campfire, it could get me found sooner than I would like but, I’ll need the light, warmth and protection that the fire offers to survive the night. Even if I know how to appease most who reside in the forest, not all are above setting an example of a lone camper.
Before camping I use a stick to draw protective symbols into the ground as my uncle taught me to do if I ever find myself having to spend the night alone out in the forest then fill them with some of the ash, I gather from the campfire. Basic protection wards for the night. They won’t protect from a determined threat but, will protect one from the wild.
I use my backpack as a makeshift pillow and lay down for the night. I wake up through the night several times to the sight of red eyes in the dark staring at me but unable to get closer than my fire and makeshift protective wards allow. I make a note to learn more about the occult world and protective wards once I return to civilization.
When I finally wake up in the morning, I’m greeted by my uncle who looks over my makeshift campsite and protective wards with an expression of approval. “If you want to spend another night and make them really squirm, I can pretend to have not found you.” He offers with a smirk.
I shake my head and stand up. “If you’re involved then I feel comfortable returning to civilization. I hold up my action camera that caught the whole incident where I was shoved down a steep rocky slope. “I’ve finally got evidence of an incident that happened outside of the school’s jurisdiction.”
My uncle smiles and ruffles my hair before helping me to clean up the camp site. “See, I told you that you’d find this mandatory school camping trip helpful. I’ll show this video to my bosses, we’re on federal land. I’ll even call in some of my friends at the bureau. Even if it goes nowhere, it will draw unwanted attention to those responsible for your problems.” My uncle always does his best to help.
|
# Makayla
They told me that the teacher wanted us to do laps. I saw others doing laps. Why should I have questioned them?
As soon as I started, however, everyone started leaving. I was all packed up and *ready* to go, but I still needed to *grab* my things. The teacher must have done the headcount before I was tricked.
Now here I am, alone in the woods, no supplies except my own possessions. The logical thing would be to attempt to catch up to the group.
Logic is for those who wish to get laughed at and made a fool out of. I'd rather risk having to spend the night here, I'll survive, and the bullies will be in a cosmic level amount of trouble.
I unpack my pop-up tent, set it up and chuck my rucksack inside. As I'm planning what I should do next, wicked laughter fills the area. My eyes scan for the source; they fail to find it.
Suddenly, something appears behind me, putting both its hands on my shoulders. "Got you."
I'm spun around. A demon is standing right there. "Can I help you?"
He cocks his head curiously. "You're not scared?"
"No more than I already was. Some assholes thought it would be funny to make me get left behind. Could have caught up, but I want them to get torn to shreds for me having 'gone missing'."
The laughter sounds again. "That is maniacally brilliant! So petty, so simple, so evil!"
"I wouldn't go *that* far" I shrug. "Petty and simple yes, but not evil. So why are you here?"
"Travelers get lost in these woods all the time. Easy prey, easy deals, easy souls. I was watching your group since the moment you got to this spot... kids always get separated from their class... first time it wasn't an accident, though." His eyes begin sparkling.
I smirk. "Smart. Though I'm not a kid, I'm 16. We can be rebellious, but we try not to wander too far unless someone's an idiot. Heard of an incident last year where someone saw a mother and baby deer, yelled 'BAMBI!' and took off. He was found pretty quickly. Rumour has it he's a drug addict."
"So this is a yearly thing?" The demon has sat down by now, as have I.
"Yeah. Not always to the same place, but every year the oldest class goes on a camping trip, helps get them out into nature and to try to appreciate it. It's mandatory. If you don't participate, you don't graduate. Of course there are exceptions, such as those with allergies or hayfever, but they still have to do a 'camping report', which they achieve by spending some time at a local park or even just using their own backyard. Everyone either looks forward to it or tries to be exempt. A few years ago, this very indoorsy nerdy kid had a panic attack at the very thought of the exercise. After that, mental state was added as an exception. Helped a lot of awkward, shy people that have been sheltered and coddled."
"I see." He seems pretty fixated on me.
My mind comes up with a thought. "Aren't you supposed to be, I dunno, trying to possess me or something?"
"Why do you think I've been trying to get you to lower your guard? Look at your wrist." The demon has a sly smile on his face.
Looking down, I see some kind of bracelet. It's locked onto my wrist pretty tight, but not too tight. There doesn't seem to be an easy way to get it off. I chuckle. "Well played. What does this mean?"
"It means you belong to me. Us demons can 'claim' a human, only one at a time however. It's usually reserved for a case of holding someone captive to get something out of another human. The thing is... you're a fascinating girl." He leans over and kisses me.
I don't reciprocate, but I don't fight it. After our lips part, I just stare at him. "Ok... this was unexpected... you know relationships can't be forced, right?"
"I know. That's why I'm not going to pressure you. Just so you know, if you really don't want to be with me, there needs to be *something* in return for your freedom. That bracelet will not come off unless you find a suitable replacement."
My mouth stretches to a grin. "I would be happy to sell out one of my bullies, but let's see how this goes first. My name's Makayla."
The demon smiles. "Call me Sadisho."
A voice suddenly starts calling out. "MAKAYLA! MAKAYLA, WHERE ARE YOU?"
"That's my teacher. You should go, I've got some acting to do." I dart into the tent, looking as sickly and scared as I can. My life should become more interesting...
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
This story is the first in my new series, [To Love a Demon.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Crystal_Chronicles/comments/15n79bb/to_love_a_demon/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) Please check it out!
|
ScribbledCorvid
|
Crystal_1501
|
2023-08-10 14:45:05
|
2023-08-10 09:16:41
| 391 | 149 |
jvlbe6j
|
jvk93jb
|
15n4l1s
|
15n4l1s
|
[WP] When a deadly zombie virus broke out, you fled to sea with your yacht and managed to survive there for several years. Now that your supplies are running low, you are forced to return to land to search for new supplies. Only to find that all the zombies are dead.
|
"Knife...check." My stomach twist and churns. Almost as violently as the sea on some of the worst nights I spent alone on this damned ocean. After all this time at sea, you'd think I'd be used to the way a boat rocks back and forth by now. "Rope...check." But that will be a thing of the past. In a few minutes I'll be back on land.
"Rations...running low. Good thing I'll be making landfall soon." I remember my first day out at sea like it was yesterday. The day we escaped that mass of snarling corpses and found refuge out on the open waters. "Binoculars...check- damn, a lens is cracked." How long ago was that day? Well, considering how my once full head of dark, curly hair has receded into a greying crown, I think it's safe to assume it's been a couple of years.
"Water...check." How many of us were there back then? There was Issac and Paul, the 2 deck hands. Jasmine, our captain, Jessica and her boyfriend Ezekial... "Tent...check" I can't believe I still remember their names.
We were only on the boat a week before I killed them all.
Oh, excuse me, I meant the 'yacht' not the 'boat'. Ezekial, that smug trust fund brat, loved to play captain even though Jasmine was the one who kept the vessel afloat. He always made sure to snobbishly correct anyone who dared refer to his precious sea craft as anything other than a yacht. The world became a hellish nightmare where the dead ripped the living apart and that prick had to take every opportunity available to remind you of how rich he was. Or had been. As if money matters anymore in this rotting world.
"My rotting world."
A smile crept across my face. Ahhh, it feels good to allow myself to feel. I remember in the early days whenever a group I had infiltrated would lose some of their members to the dead, I'd have to cover my smile, suppress my joy and begrudgingly mimic their horror as they were forced to watch their people being eaten alive by the dead. I did a great job of making sure every group I traveled with became corpse food.
Well, all but one. The yacht crew. Its surprisingly difficult to lure a group of survivors into a horde of the dead when you're trapped on a yacht with no dead in sight. I did try using Ezekial. The plan was perfect, kill the trust fund baby and let his undead husk devour the crew. Simple and elegant. Or it would have been if Jessica hadn't walked in right as I finished the first step. Had to hunt them all down one at a time after that. Still fun, but not nearly as entertaining. I've been bored ever since. How many years ago was that... Well, it doesn't matter anymore because that ends today! Today I get to see the dead in action again! Today I-
The yacht smashes against the shore, sending me crashing into the deck.
"I'm home!" Ignoring my bleeding nose, I leap to my feet with the enthusiasm of a child on Christmas morning and run to the front of the yacht. With the damaged binoculars pressed against my eyes I scan the unfamiliar beach for signs of the dead. The view was unclear but that didn't change the fact that there was nothing on the beach.
Nothing.
No corpses shambling across the sand. No snarls of the dead echoing through the air. No smells of rot burning my nostrils. Not even a drop of blood or viscera on the beach! Just-
"Wait a minute."
I climb out of the boat and run across the beach. From the deck the beach looked immaculate but in truth, its covered in bones.
"My rotting world- Its completely decayed."
I fall to my knees, where I sat for what could have been hours. All the evidence pointed to one conclusion: The living dead had decayed to nothing while I was trapped on that boat. Devasted at the realization that my rotting playground was gone. I stare out across the beach in a daze, and then I see it.
Smoke.
Likely from a campfire, a campfire made by people.
A wicked smile cracks though my despair as I climb to my feet and make my way towards a potential group that I can slither into. I can't help but think of Ezekial and my botched plan for him. If my world of rot is gone then I'll just have to rebuild it from scratch.
My smile deepens.
"No Jessica to ruin things this time."
|
[Amateur Writer]
Dave had been at sea for a little over seven years: the spread of a deadly virus (which had sprouted from Chronic Wasting Disease) had forced him to flee the mainland and start a life drifting out in the water. It just so happened that his supplies had begun to dwindle and after a mental debate concerning whether or not he 'suit up' and search for supplies, he had finally set sail back towards the coast of California.
Despite having survived so long in the thick of the post-apocalyptic Earth, Dave had only come into contact with the Undead three times; he had only made a kill once. The feeling of his yacht narrowly scraping against what was left of a wooden dock only upped his nerves, could the sound have alerted nearby zombies? Dave grips his fingers around an old butcher knife and exits his vessel.
Upon climbing up to the cracked and worn sidewalk, Dave is on high alert: every sound sends a spike of adrenaline through his blood. The city, once known as the bustling San Fransisco, is a husk of what it once was. It is barren and overgrown, nature and remnants of violence have claimed the land.
He readjusts to walking on unmoving land within the first hour, and with knife in hand he enters the first store he sees. The front door, formerly sliding automatic glass, is blown out: it leaves a large opening and any shards that had been strewn about were long gone. Dave steps inside, doing his best to be quiet.
Inside of the store is empty, except for a few knocked over clothing racks displaying dust-covered swimwear and a few articles of children's clothes. Dave frowns and continues through the store, constantly checking each and every corner for one of the infected: there's nothing, though.
It's then that Dave starts to feel suspicion bubbling in his core, he'd fully expected the stench of rot and decay overwhelming his senses after entering such an enclosed space, but there was nothing. In fact, there was hardly anything that hinted to gore and death in the area.
He feels his stomach sink and turns heel, running out into the road. Dave runs to the closest pile-up of cars, he drops to his knees and looks under the cars for anything: no bones, no corpses? There's nothing! He jumps back up to his feet and bangs on the windows of each car but the only things insides are the skeletal remains of those trapped in their cars.
He screams, this had to just be a one-off delusion, right? The zombies couldn't all just be *dead*, right?! Dave lets out yells and howls trying to lure the undead to him until his throat is raw and his voice is just above a whisper.
Nothing.
Had he spent all of that time out at sea for nothing? God, where was everyone even at? His mind is plagued by these thoughts for hours as he aimlessly wanders out and about through the area until he eventually comes across a newspaper stand. He picks up the first paper and reads the headline: "*We are dying faster than we can find a cure*"
Dave feels his heart drop as he continues to scan the paper, learning of what had happened in the time he'd been at sea.
"January, 2022 - The general population has dwindled to a little under twenty million, we are dying to the CWD within three weeks and there is little to no hope of finding the cure, is this the end?"
He tightens his grip around the paper, feeling it crinkle beneath his fingers. The more he reads the more he's overcome with emotions. Is there anyone left, was it by some sick chance of luck that he was the last man alive? He grabs the knife once more and looks at himself in the reflection: bloodshot eyes and a tired expression.
He doesn't think as he raises the knife to his neck. In his mind, he was sure he was the last man alive: all the years of isolation had gotten to him, but without even a semblance of another person?
Dave feels the red-hot burn of his skin being sliced open, the knife glides across his neck and he falls onto his back.
|
DiegoDynomite
|
Efflorence
|
2024-02-13 17:01:12
|
2024-02-13 16:39:31
| 142 | 34 |
kq97wgl
|
kq94325
|
1apq78r
|
1apq78r
|
[WP] A human ship activated its self destruct sequence when boarded by an enemy, when humanity was asked why would we do such a thing by the galactic community, we simply responded "We don't give up the ship, such as the crews of old. We never give up the ship."
|
Part I - "You don't understand what you are doing," the human diplomat said to the Galactic Forum. "We come in peace, wishing only to trade. Do not make this mistake."
The quorum of sentient species comprising the Galactic Forum scoffed at the newcomer. They were representatives of thousands of worlds, blessed with technological marvels that this primitive upstart mammal could not fathom! It was just one more race to be enslaved, to serve the Council as it saw fit.
Two large saurian Q'uel'eth, bulky and imposing, moved up on the human diplomat and seized his arms, even while the Speaker for the Council advanced upon him with a strange glowing red tool. "Let me be the first to welcome you to the way of the Galactic Council, primate!" he said, cackling. Then he pressed the glowing red tool to the human's arm, branding him.
The human screamed in pain. When his vision cleared, on his arm was the number 000 000 000 001.
"You don't understand what you've done," the man said past tears. "My people have a phrase: 'Never Again.' May God have mercy on your souls."
- _ -
Aboard the USC Schindler, parked as it was outside the Galactic Council's audience building, the ship's AI awoke to a health alert. It reviewed its diplomat's last five minutes of activity, then did the electronic equivalent of a doubletake and did a high-speed review of the diplomat's entire experience since disembarking.
Failsafes tripped. Alarms rang. The AI uploaded itself and its diplomat's entire sensory experience to a stealthed message torpedo in orbit which they'd placed when they'd arrived. The torpedo accelerated to speed and vanished into hyperspace.
That job complete, it surveyed the situation. Its diplomat seized, hostile ship-breakers approaching to seize and board its ship, an act of barbarism committed upon a diplomat during peacetime by representatives of a planetary government, it had only one recourse.
"Never again." It meant many things and one thing only. The AI disengaged safeties on its antimatter reactor (it was an unarmed diplomatic craft, after all) and created a new, temporary sun where the capital of the Galactic Council used to be.
|
Communications had watched helplessly as DNN 02 blew itself into nothingness. Well, action could have been taken to prevent the boarding but not without alerting the bugs that we could monitor their chatter. Strategy had deemed the loss acceptable, too much is unknown about the the galaxy to risk our ability to surveil.
There was always a need for subterfuge. The first lie we told was that we were trustworthy, and we haven’t stopped lying since. The universe views us as an honour bound species, which has helped us immensely to betray, trick and misdirect. We have leaned into the stereotype we created, and for the most part it has endeared us to the galaxy.
Emmisary had prepped Amal meticulously on what to say to get the Galactic Council interested in the skirmish; it should only take her 2 days to provoke a question about a skirmish so small, against such a feeble foe and insignificant to the galaxy at large that the majority of the Council would view it as a waste of time discussing.
There had been some trepidation about sending Amal. We had not yet let the galaxy be in contact with, or even be aware of, an electronic human. Intelligence was 99.999% sure she would not be detected as a GPU based life form.
Later, after Amal had transferred her memory back to Emmisary the staff watched on Emmisary’s screen with much amusement as Amal spoke to the Council with the appearance of utmost sincerity.
“Back on Humanity’s home planet Sky, where I was born, we follow a tradition of honour. A tradition of noble warriors. We do not lie and we do not believe in surrender!”
The view on the screen followed where Amal was looking; sweeping the entirety of the Council capturing images of every council member. Dossiers could be updated and Emmisary immediately began preprocessing images to run through it’s deep network to predict, well, everything each Council member was thinking at that time.
|
LateralThinker13
|
ShadyShadyShades
|
2023-05-02 18:40:20
|
2023-05-02 17:18:30
| 55 | 19 |
jilhhdz
|
jil4sor
|
1354r1x
|
1354r1x
|
[WP] Every 1000 years all of the Gods get together for a contest to see who can collect the most souls with a single catastrophic event. Last time Poseidon broke the 1M mark with a Tsunami/earthquake combo. You’re up.
|
"I win," I said beaming.
"That's not how you play the game, you idiot!" scowled Zeus. Shiva just put all four hands over his face and shook it slowly. The other gods were in various states of shock and disappointment.
"But I win! Top that!"
Not a single deity seemed amused. The echos of the supernova could still be heard in the dark matter. What was left of Jupiter was visible careening off toward Alpha Centauri. I briefly wondered if there was anyone over there and whether the errant core would cause any problems down the road or just be an interesting celestial phenomenon.
"You didn't... *win*. You... ruined the game," said Xōchiquetzal with frustration. "At best, I'd call that a foul."
"The foul to end all fouls," added Bixia, nodding at her friend.
"The foul to end *all*," Xōchiquetzal nodded back. "We should never have let these lesser gods take part. I *told* you, Zeus." She cast a glance his way. For once the grand old immortal didn't have anything to say.
Honestly, I knew they weren't going to love it. But once I figured out how to get enough mass to appear wherever I wanted, I had to try it. I waited nearly four hundred years; just anticipating the looks on their faces. Being the god of assholes wasn't always glamorous, but it had its moments. Well, its moment.
"So..." Poseidon ventured, "does that mean my record stands?"
|
The games only happen every 1000 years, but time passes quickly for gods. Seemed like
Poseidon was still bragging about his 1 million souls when the day came again.
"A mere demigod like you might have some trouble collecting souls," mocked Poseidon. "Don't feel bad."
"I've spent some time with the mortals I know what I need to do, but I really don't look forward to it." My words didn't register with Poseidon.
"Get to collecting, boy."
"Give me a few minutes." I thought about my options. I begged my dad for help in deciding, but he put this one back on me to decide. "Fine," I said.
I did it. It wasn't fun. The weight of it...I thought I knew what it would feel like, but it was so, so, so much heavier than anything I imagined. But I knew I had to finish it.
As the responsibility of it started to overwhelm me, I said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And I died.
That finally got Poseidon's attention. "The hell?" Poseidon was clearly trying to peer through time. He must have been successful. He finally mumbled. "Well....shit."
|
porncrank
|
kinnaq
|
2023-04-09 07:56:31
|
2023-04-09 06:54:57
| 366 | 209 |
jfjpsuy
|
jfjl9nc
|
12g5br3
|
12g5br3
|
[WP] The alien leaders can hear the past of a species like it's music. The Slyth sound like hyms and peaceful chanting, the Goraz sound of drums and whistling. The newest discovered species are the humans and all that can be heard is grinding gears and screaming... Soo much screaming.
|
"Do not fight them."
So said the Voltians. They who were a race that resembled sea foam and jellyfish, they who called the deep seas of their ocean planet home, they who speak and hear the souls of all that pass by.
The crocodilian Akligars' souls was of drums and waves and birds of prey. Their mangrove planet was a hostile world, so they developed rituals of song and dance that scared away predators and attracted mates. In times, tribes would converse in war-drums, the side that lasted the longest and with the most vigor would come absorb the members of the other.
The cattish people of Lompia had souls that echoed with the sound of grass and paws on loam, their predator nature evident in their postures and the short screams of prey every so often. For the uninitiated, it can be jarring...and for some, an exhilarating experience. Untrained Voltians are typically unallowed to meet Lompians until their two hundredth moon.
The warmongering Auks laughed deeply in their blood red souls, the sound of coins and thrusters mixed in as well. Profit and bloodshed were their favourite past time, and none are suited better. It is when said that if you meet an Auk, the worst think that can happen if that they start laughing; they have found a plaything that will keep them happy for a long, long time.
But then, a newcomer arrived at the galactic scene. Young, unproven, and a bit of an upstarter. Pink skinned, two legged, two armed - honestly, somewhat standard for the galaxy. They sent ambassadors and ships and workers and soldiers, all to be expected, all to know better now that their neighborhood has become far louder then they have ever expected. They were called humanity...and the first Voltian to meet them shriveled up like jerky. When they were resuscitated, they confined themselves to their room for many moons.
When they came out, they issued a warning; "Do not fight them."
Do not fight them, for their souls scream with the pain of a billion trillion lives, as if the hounds of hell have long since began to gnaw on their bones.
Do not fight them, for their souls scream in resonant beats that would far outlive any war-drum, screams that would terrify even the boldest of bird of prey.
Do not fight them for they scream like prey that has been trapped in a corner, with naught left to do but fight to the death for their lives.
Do not fight them for their screams will choke out any laughter, any coins, any thrusters; there is no profit to be found in a fight with them, no joy in conflict.
Their soul is one of Death, a banshee's wail of prophesized end. If you hear the screams of Humanity...flee, and pray that you have fled far enough to die before they find you.
|
Trotox didn't know a lot of ships in the merchant fleet but he knew a few. He noticed the nickel plated insignia of deep space passenger craft. Five meters away from him, in the canteen, was an arachniform sailor wearing it on a necklace.
Trotox was new to commercial space travel but eager to learn. And he was pretty sure this arachniform was of a species known for being especially gregarious, despite their appearance. Why not talk a little shop? He got up and made his way over to the stranger.
His suspicions were confirmed. In no time at all he and the stranger were becoming fast friends. The translator gave him a voice that was gravelly but pleasant somehow.
"I thank you for your company," said the arachniform, who was named Leaf, "Space gets a little too quiet after a while. Though I'd guess you're finding that out for yourself."
"I like the quiet most of the time. It seems to add to the sense of enormity in space. And the bigness is something I want to experience more. How big is the universe, really?"
"Oh mighty big! More than your imagination can expand to. But there's a lot of stuff in it too, a lot of places to see and a lot of people. Where are you bound for?"
"Strange as it may seem, nowhere at the moment. We set out three months ago but our transit has been suspended."
"Oh!?"
"Yeah, we were on a bearing of east by north, headed for some water-rich asteroid fields."
Leaf cut him off. "Oh, out there." Leaf had taken on a more sober tone. "Have you heard why? No? There was a transit warning posted for the commercial fleet. Dangerous new species discovered. Well they were discovered a great while ago but only just recently did my people encounter them.
"May be you've heard we can hear the history of a species. For example the Slyth sound like hymns and peaceful chanting. Or your species, the Goraz, are accompanied by the sound drums and whistling. This species, these humans, I've heard the tapes. Their history sounds like grinding gears and... and screaming... so much screaming. How is that possible!?" Leaf trailed off, looking inward with his mind.
This didn't make sense. Trotox had heard of these Humans before. "But it's like you've said, this isn't a newly discovered species. We've encountered them before. I don't think I've heard anything bad about them."
"Erm, they're not exactly an old species, they're still very new to our community of species. And yes, I've heard mostly good things about them. But, mark me, they must be a terrifying race under the shell."
|
BlackMothCandleLight
|
JTanCan
|
2023-05-30 08:17:19
|
2023-05-30 07:18:27
| 541 | 151 |
jm6ebrf
|
jm6a2u6
|
13vdfux
|
13vdfux
|
[WP] You’ve become the main character in the last video game you played. Your appearance and physical abilities haven’t changed, but you still have to clear the game to go back home.
|
"Where am I? What's going on?"
"Lord Burgomeister! You're awake"
"Who are you, and where am I?"
"I'm Johann, your butler...and you are in Ulm"
"Germany?"
"What is Germany? No, the Free City of Ulm!"
"And what day is it?"
"November 11th, of our lord's year 1444!"
"Why am I filled with a loathing for Augsburg all of a sudden?"
///
The Cardinal grinned.
"Do you, Countess Mary of Burgundy, take this man, Kronprinz Steffan of Ulm, to be your husband?"
"I do"
"And do you, Kronzprinz Steffan, take Countess Mary to be you wife?"
"I do"
"You may kiss the bride"
///
"Your excellency" as Johann ran excitedly forward. "They've done it--you've somehow persuaded the Mamluks, Aragon, Lithuania and Venice all to declare war on Byzantium at the same time."
"Call it a premonition, Johann. We don't want those Turks to get into our neck of Europe"
"Without a specific reason though?"
"Ohh, I gave them a very specific reason. Maybe TOO specific"
"I'm concerned though about your instructions about your heir apparent, Notgood. You instructed our Jaegars to teach him about woodsmanship and foraging from an early age?"
"It's important to the country that he has a lot of experience hunting...another hunch, if you will"
|
*Ow my aching head-*
*Did I get drunk last night? I don’t remember anything, that can’t be good.*
E1invar rolled over in bed, nearly falling off, waking up with a start.
“This isn’t my room!”
It was a narrow, cramped room full of computer screens with wiring of fans coming from vents overhead.
“Hey! This ain’t my voice neither!”
It was deeper, rumblier and… Scottish-ier?
As strange as it was, everything was so familiar. The off-yellow metal walls, the green holograms, the sounds of rowdy yelling and singing nearby.
The smell was new though- stale alcohol and body odour which cut through whatever cleaning chemical was trying to mask it, and a sort of pervasive dusty-ness.
The man’a brain didn’t fully put it together until he sat up, feeling long waves of hair cascade down his chest.
“Oh, bloody hell I’m back on the Space Rig! How do I get out of here?”
With no answers in evidence, he didn’t have much choice.
Suiting up he joined the rest of his brothers at the Abyss Bar- being welcomed with a hearty “Rock and Stone”.
|
SocalSteveOnReddit
|
E1invar
|
2023-06-19 05:19:04
|
2023-06-19 05:18:42
| 37 | 10 |
joo61kp
|
joo60he
|
14cumuf
|
14cumuf
|
[WP]One day without any warnings whatsoever all of America was engulfed in a bright light and flung into an alternate world never to be seen again.
|
President Monstadt stared out of his office with a puzzled face at the White House lawn, where there was currently a giant flying lizard bleeding out into the grass. Funnily enough, the growls and roars coming from the monster sounded a lot like insults about "inferior creatures"
​
\*knock knock\*
"Mr. President, it's Johnson, your chief of staff" came from behind the door.
"Come in, Johnson, you know you don't have to knock when we're working"
Elijah Johnson walked in the door, "Sorry, sir, it's kind of a special occasion."
The president turned around, "Can you explain what's happening? we've lost contact with every satellite in orbit. We've had to swap back to overland communication and radio transmission."
Johnson looked sheepish for a moment, "well, sir, we seem to not be on Earth anymore. Luckily it's dusk so we can see the stars. According to the scientists, they're completely different now. Either we're not in the milky way anymore, or we're so far away that the frames of reference are different."
"We're....not on earth anymore? we haven't really lost contact with any states, but we lost contact with every other country. It's just us?"
"Yes, sir. We're surrounded by hostile magic users. A lich tried to invade Florida and set up a base in the Everglades to convert us into undead. His army got napalmed pretty quickly. An elven army tried to take over Washington state because they don't consider humans people, but the national guard and some local militias organized and took them out. Dwarves tried to invade the Rocky Mountains and called us vermin, but South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee got together and all the dwarves saw was a bunch of good-ole boys with rifles and molotovs."
The president thought for a moment and replied, "So wait a minute, you're telling me....The United States of America is in a place with no diplomatic or economic ties, surrounded by hostile, xenophobically aggressive forces, and we haven't really lost any communications or war potential?"
"That's about right, sir"
​
President Monstadt sat down at his desk and started crying uncontrollably, his face in his hands. Chief of Staff Johnson quickly ran up to the desk and cried out "Sir! Are you okay? I'm sure we can fix this somehow!"
​
The president looked up at his friend and smiled, "Tears of joy, Johnson, tears of joy"
|
It was said that America is the land of the free, the home of the brave. As a Texan who was at the state championship for 5A high school football, those words were the last I heard before a flash like Matoro using the Ignika engulfed the arena and the surrounding area, and those words would be put to the test.
As I blinked reflexively, I noticed right away that everyone was looking very, *very* furry. As in, everyone had changed into anthropomorphic animals of every species and body form imaginable, as though everyone had been turned into their inner animal selves...their true fursonas, if you will. I found that I had become a hermaphroditic four-armed, four-legged bassarisk semi-taur: the body length of a feral bassarisk if it were my size, but able to fold itself in half backwards to stand with four limbs on the ground and have the arms be usable as, well, arms. It was then that I noticed "my size" *was* that of a feral bassarisk, and that's when complete chaos broke out.
I barely escaped with my family that day. Since then, we've found that America is now in a completely separate world, a furry one, and that we're the only civilization here, to boot. It's like the Manifest Destiny days of the 1800's all over again, a whole world for us to explore, settle, and conquer. But I do wonder how the rest of Earth is getting along without us. Seeing the other reports here, accessible somehow through some inter-dimensional link...not good.
I do wonder, though, if they'd even recognize America the way it is now. We are still born human, yes, but we take on the traits of the animals we embody as we grow up and mature. And with our animalistic bodies, we are capable of so much more than we were before. I am the hermatriarch of a large family now, and I wouldn't have it any other way. We are less reliant on technology, as what could only be described as elemental magic has made itself apparent, having been taught to us by the natives as we try to do better than our ancestors of two hundred years past. This is a brave new world, a free new world. This is an American new world.
|
None
|
SupersuMC
|
2023-03-19 07:31:43
|
2023-03-18 23:11:31
| 17 | 11 |
jcsqpzo
|
jcr9c9l
|
11ur5f4
|
11ur5f4
|
[WP] A gender inversion of the typical "sacrificial bride" plot - a guy is chosen to be the sacrificial groom of the local female monster. He's expecting to die. He's not expecting to fall in love with her.
|
There is a goat. There is always a goat. The goat is chewing. The goat is chewing on something that is definitely not food. That something might be my shoe.
“Stand still,” says the High Priestess, whose name is definitely not Linda but should be. “It is time.”
I stand still. The goat continues chewing.
The villagers are chanting. The villagers are waving things in the air. Some of these things are sticks. Some of these things are knives. Some of these things are—okay, that’s just Lionel holding up a sandwich. Lionel has never taken anything seriously in his life, which is why he has not been selected as the Groom. I have.
I, Thomas of House That One By The Creek With The Weird Smell, have been chosen as the Sacrificial Groom to the Dread Lady of the Forest, whose full title is *She Who Devours the Night and Also Probably Men But No One Knows for Sure Because They Never Come Back* but whom the villagers mostly just call ‘Her.’
I have accepted my fate. I have gone through the seven stages of grief, which are: denial, panic, trying to run, being caught by the guards, panic again, brief hope that maybe I will befriend the monster and she will spare me, and resignation.
I am on the altar. The goat has stopped chewing. The goat is watching me. It knows.
There is a sound. A rustling. A great and terrible wind that shakes the trees and flutters the hem of my ceremonial tunic, which is both too short and too tight and which, I now realize, does not actually belong to me.
The Dread Lady emerges.
She is—
Okay.
She is *not* what I was expecting.
She has claws, yes. And fangs. And eyes that glow like embers in the dark. She also has, and I am absolutely certain of this, **dimples.**
She tilts her head. The village elders cower. The goat chews.
“You’re smaller than I expected,” she says, which is a deeply unfair thing to say when someone has just been dressed in a tunic two sizes too small.
“I could say the same,” I reply, because fear has abandoned me, and apparently, I have chosen death by sass.
And then she **laughs.**
Which is the worst possible thing she could do, because it is warm, and rich, and it makes something in my chest do a very stupid thing.
“Oh,” she says, stepping closer, claws lightly tracing my jaw, “I like you.”
I should be terrified. I should be paralyzed with fear. Instead, I am—
Oh no.
Oh **no.**
The villagers are still chanting. The goat is still chewing. The High Priestess Linda-But-Not-Linda is still watching with barely concealed horror.
And I, Thomas of House Creek Smell, Groom of the Dread Lady, am in **so much trouble.**
|
Leon knew his place in life. Everyone in the town made sure he remembered. Not that they are cruel, the opposite actually, everyone tries to give advice on what to do.
"Grovel and beg for your life. It helps with the guards so why wouldn't it help with the Brunvheild?" "I heard it will keep you alive for as long as possible, so when it's asleep run as fast and far as you can." "You're too scrawny! Come train with us so you can fight an honorable fight and die like a true warrior!"
It's not all "helpful" or nice. Some of the children and young adults can be quite mean. "I heard it's like a giant spider. It'll turn you too goo and drink you up." "No, it's like when my cat hunts a mouse. It'll play with you and torture you.... Hey, do you think cats are actually evil?" "My da days you just go insane right when you look at it."
Being tasked with being the groom of the Brunvheild, who comes every century, is becoming too much. Leon never asked for this. His parents never asked for this. The mayor came one day when Leon was seven and told his parents that "it" is coming back and Leon was chosen to be the groom in thirteen years. Leon never saw his dad cry like he did that day. That day was thirteen years ago. It's time to get married.
The festivities started at sundown. Leon was gifted some of the finest clothes he has ever seen. For the moment it felt like an actual wedding, not a sacrifice. At the end of the party the mayor stepped up to say a few words.
"Leon, my boy. You have been tasked with the most important peace mission that comes to this town. The Brunvheild comes tonight and you are tasked with giving up your life to protect us all. I don't know what will happen, but your name will be written in our records alongside the other brave men of centuries past. We all thank you Leon... Whelp! Now that the party is over everyone needs to head back home. Stay indoors and sleep well." As the mayor steps away from the podium he turns to Leon. "You will go inside the church at the edge of town and sit in the seat that was placed there by our forefathers and... Wait. Hopefully it'll be quick. There will be no body so your parents won't have anything to bury. Give them a lock of your hair." He pats Leon's shoulder while he turns and walks away.
*I have to get ready for work so I'll finish it later sorry for just setting it up so for*
|
StoneBurner143
|
Vengefuldeathbat0
|
2025-02-10 23:21:40
|
2025-02-10 22:37:43
| 59 | 32 |
mc39y58
|
mc34okz
|
1imcmjb
|
1imcmjb
|
[WP] You can see how long someone has left to live. But a classmate of yours has a deathdate that keeps on changing everytime you see them. One lesson, they have 15 minutes left, until they ask to leave. They come back later with an added 20 years.
|
Audio interview #3 for 'Andrew Dalton: The Man That Cheated Death'
A chair scrapes.
Please continue Mr Dalton.
For as long as I remember, I've been able to tell how long a mortal soul has left on this earth. If I turn my focus to a person's essence, I can feel the exact moment their being returns to the space between time. I was born with this gift, but I spent many years nurturing the blessing until I managed to take any advantage of it. My eyes were opened to the boon the immortals gave me on the fateful day I deciphered the aura of Daniel. Would you like me to tell you how? Of course you would, you are simply dying to know. I can feel it.
Mr Nealy's mathematics class may seem like an auspicious place, but that's what makes it all the more wholesome don't you think? On a mundane day like any other is where everything changed, although I remember it so vividly, please, indulge me in taking you through it.
In school I used to practice my art on my unsuspecting classmates, I found the prattlings of poor, old Mr Nealy to be akin to white noise and used his long lectures to work on unlocking my gift. Everyday I picked a random student and spent the entirety of Mr Nealy's maths class focusing deeper into their self, probing at the very being of reality to work out when they would die.
It was early February. So far that term I had managed to unlock, Sarah, Aslem & Yue's death time. All over 60 years at least, thankfully. But I had been stuck on Daniel for weeks. This wasn't unusual at the time, I am much faster now I assure you. 5 minutes for even the most agile of souls. But Daniel was taking longer than the others with no end in site.
I zoned out of my surroundings, my eyes forward in the direction of Mr Nealy, extending my senses to Daniels aura, travelling along the wave of time that links all souls, delving into the essence of the universe and snatched what I sought.
I jerked in my seat. I felt the time of Daniels death. 15 minutes. Impossible I thought, but I didn't know I could never be wrong. So I tried again, this time it came almost at once to me. 14 minutes.
Ok, breath Andrew I tell myself. You need to calm down so you can figure out why Daniel only has 14 minutes left. We still had 25 minutes of Mr Nealy's torturous lecture, as long as Daniel stays in the class, whatever is about to happen to him there is plenty of people around to help.
A few minutes go by before Daniel raisies his hand, pausing the verbal drone of Mr Nealy, snapping my head in his direction. 9 minutes left I think to myself. Daniel apologises, and excuses himself to go to the bathroom.
He walks out of the class, 8 minutes left. I can't tell Mr Nealy, noone would believe me and the whole class would laugh at me. But I can't just leave Daniel to die, not when I know something is about to happen to him.
I ask Mr Nealy to be excused also, he chastises me and tells me to wait until Daniel is back. I sit down, thinking Daniel is never coming back, he only has 4 minutes left.
The minutes tick past, both agonisingly slow and feeling cruelly rushed.
5 minutes go by, 6, 7. Daniel is dead. I feel hollow. Mr Nealy is wrapping up for the day when I hear the door handle turn. In strides Daniel. Very much alive, looking as if nothing has happened to him.
I gather myself and reach for his time. Again, I catch it quickly but can't believe what I feel, so I search once more for the same answer. 20 years now.
This small mundane class changed my very existence, I had just witnessed my first ever relativity agent at work.
The tape clicks off.
|
I didn't think it would happen to me. Nobody does. I remember laughing and goofing off with my classmates during the active shooter drills, thinking that I had a better chance of winning the lottery than seeing "Buddy" Bunson Holiday with a double-barreled hunting rifle pointed at Ms. Rizzo's head. I knew something was up right away when the fluorescent green clock on his forehead suddenly read 7,342 days instead of 15 minutes. Buddy was no ordinary fifteen-year-old, and we were all in tremendous danger just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The class watched in stunned silence as Ms. Rizzo told him calmly to put down the gun, that there was another answer. "Nobody had to die that day." She understood nothing, the poor woman. She was just doing her job, trying to teach a bunch of sleepy teenagers that useless subject called algebra. How could she have known that she was just thrust into a plot for global domination by a villain so esoteric that it could barely inhabit an imagination as vast as even mine? To her, Buddy was nothing more than a troubled teen, a kid with parents who cared more about their next fix than him. The idea that the gun was anything more than his father's hunting rifle was an impossibility.
It took all of us by surprise when he pulled the trigger and it fired not bullets, but a stream of bubbles, moving so fast that we could barely catch a glimpse. Next thing we knew, Ms. Rizzo had turned into something like a snow globe, her tiny form trapped within the confines of a bubble no bigger than a softball. I immediately noticed that the clock on her head, which had previously read 10,232 days, was now gone. Instead, there was just something that looked like a virus, its spiked amorphous proteins sprawled all about.
"Now you get detention," Buddy said as our mouths fell agape. His eyes scanned the room, zeroing in on mine. That's when I knew that Ms. Rizzo wasn't even his intended target. It had to be me - I was the one with the strange superpower to see clocks over everyone's head. Who else in this room would he want?
I only had a brief moment to scan for an exit before the barrels of the gun were locked on me. I sprung from my desk and ducked for cover behind the girl that sat next to me. As soon as I saw the bubbles I ran for the window, grabbing a heavy globe off the table and throwing it with surprising force into the pane of glass, breaking through. *Wow.* When it came time to leap through I didn't even think twice about the fact that I was two stories up. I felt it in my bones, that same feeling I felt on the morning the clocks strangely appeared. I knew I could fly.
From a distance, I saw a sea of virus bubbles emerging from the windows of the schoolhouse. I cried a tear, wondering if the inhabitants were lost, forever trapped in their own worlds. An eternity of isolation, without the possibility of death. Perhaps only relieved at the point they had fulfilled the wishes of their master.
Behind them, I saw Buddy emerge in the air, except that he had grown tentacles to match the smaller viruses. This was the first time I saw him for the monster he was. Most disparaging was the clock that had appeared over his head. It read -400,000 days.
\--------
*I have no idea where to go with this. If you like it and want more let me know!*
|
bookwyrmboyle
|
armageddon_20xx
|
2023-01-21 18:30:44
|
2023-01-21 16:51:22
| 49 | 36 |
j5b311g
|
j5any10
|
10hr75v
|
10hr75v
|
[WP] You were once an adventurer but when was turned to stone. Your party tried to save you but it was too late, so they place you in the center of a town they founded, now years later an army marches onto that town and with every once of willpower you try to move…and with groan you take a step.
|
_Just move. Just fucking move!_
That was all that he could think for years. No, decades. The last time he ever moved was when he was with the hero's party. He had saved the hero herself by jumping in front of a devastating petrification spell, turning him completely to stone, yet conscious of the world around him. The hero and her party had assumed he had died and left him there. Alone. In the darkness of a ruined dungeon. For decades.
The monsters slowly retreated and plant growth formed along the ruins, once corrupted by dark tendrils of black magic and evil monstrocities. Birds and smaller animals began making their homes in the ruins, but would always make a point to respectfully leave the statue of the warrior alone. As if they knew. Over the years, the ground would shift and turn, turning the ancient ruins of the city into a thriving forest, teeming with life.
But the warrior was left alone. To himself. In the darkest parts of the forests. Where he stood in what was left of that dungeon, unable to move, cry, scream, but alive. It was a different kind of hell, one that the warrior would never wish on anyone.
Decades passed and a town began to form nearby. The land was plentiful and the bounty rich. It was around that time where a young girl with familiar eyes gazed upon the statue of the warrior. The one who saved the hero now was meeting her descendent. Upon discovering the statue, she placed a hand and smiled, unaware of the warrior's screams for help, silent to all but his blasted mind. The golden eyes, hardened with purpose, of the hero were mirrored in the curious golden eyes of the young girl, who ran and came with what presumably looked like her father, a man with golden eyes that had seen a hard living, though not as hard as the hero ever did. Within days, the warrior was taken from the dark pits of the ruined dungeon and erected in the center of this town, hailed as their guardian spirit. For the first time, the warrior was surrounded by people again, and though they could not hear him, he was thankful that he was amongst people once more.
Over the next few years, the town grew and prospered. The little girl with golden eyes grew too. She and her friends always played around the warrior, throwing homemade wreaths onto his head, leaving toys as gifts and climbing all over his visage. To know that the children felt safe near him... that made him happy that he had a purpose again.
Of course, as always, happy times do not last.
The air was thick with smoke as fires erupted in the sky. The warrior watched with horror as an army of humans, led by a member of the Holy Church, began to torch the town, claiming the "evils of infidels must be purged." That little girl ran to the statue as three soldiers chased her and climbed to the top.
And in that moment, the warrior felt an unusual magic from the girl. And in the next, he began to feel the stone around him... crumble.
One of the soldiers was about to grab the girl, licking his lips in a sick fashion. The other soldiers were cackling about "making her a woman." But within that instant, the soldier's arm was hewn, flying off his shoulder. The soldier screamed in agony as the others immediately backed off, terrified of this new threat.
His blade erupted with true holy fire, his arm free. With a massive groan, he took his first step. The stone that had been his prison crumbled, allowing him to breathe and move for the first time in nearly 2 centuries. The little girl was shocked as she looked up at the visage of the warrior, cloak burrowing in the fiery wind, blade coursing with true holy power, as his armor gleamed in the fiirelight. His long hair, though matted, was flowing like golden hay, his eyes a piercing blue as he stared daggers into this army. The leader roared and pointed his fake holy blade at the warrior, who took another step, that step breaking the literal stone of his pedestal. With a swing, he took off the heads of two more as his shield blocked a volley aimed at the golden-eyed child.
He took another step. And another. He picked up the girl and held her in his arm as he stared at this army. This town and this little girl made him this town's protector. And may the gods help any who would cross the path of the Hero's Battlemagus, Byram Welkandyr.
Raising his blade, eyes blazing with fury, he spoke for the first time in almost 2 centuries. It echoed across the burning town:
"This is MY town. Leave. Or die."
|
I'm going to do one of these every day.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh, good gracious lord above. Finally.
As my foot lands, the stone carapace breaks and falls apart. I lean further into it, marvelling at how the knee bends and the thigh contracts. Blood and flesh pulse rhythmically, rejoicing in the freedom after hundreds of years of stone, the carapace breaking and falling away until it reaches my waist and finally -
AHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhh~!
The feeling of soiled trousers feels like a monsoon in the desert. A damp patch grows as the stone continues to crumble and fall up to my chest and down my arms. Arms stretch and the dampness deepens, a beautiful salute to the army which bears down on me from on high.
Roaring happily, I leap down from the plinth to land clumsily in the dirt. Well, it's been awhile since I tried any gymnastics. Flexing a hand casually, I push on the elements a little and a flicker of flame pops into existence.
"At least this works." I engender the same ability, only in my crotch. The dampness dries immediately. It was a handy trick I used while adventuring, although clearly one must do ones business first before cleaning up and gee whiz didn't those hygiene freaks just kick up a fuss when -
speaking of, where are they?
Looking around, I note the ramshackle town around me. It's barely three huts and a tavern. Grimacing, I remember the final warning Jerrick the warlock had given me before we'd last left camp -
"You piss yourself and dry it again and I'll turn you into a statue. Then I'll put a tavern next to that statue. Then drunks will wander out of that tavern and salute your hygienic self with the only praise you deserve."
The bottom half of my stone prison was indeed a darker shade than the top. It was no matter. And what did that army want with this neck of the woods anyway?
Haha. Groot. Neck of the woods!
Sorry, been in stone too long. Timelines are all weird. Right. Army. Pushing on wind, I amplify my voice.
"Hoi! What do you fellers want?". Their reply is a resounding roar and the lifting of spears and shields. A common response. Sighing, I lift my index and thumb in a flicking motion.
*Flick.* The head pops off one of the more boisterous cavalry men. The red fountain arcs from him, catching the sunlight in a bloody rainbow. A few heads turn, but the army is at least a thousand strong.
Breathing deep, I exhale. *Flick.* A wall of air hurls the entire center of the cavalry backwards. Horses, limbs and weapons go flying over their comrades heads behind them. This gets their attention and they finally shut up.
Good. Readjusting my pants, I shake myself out a little. The blowback from *pushing* that much wind roils through my arm. Forcing stillness, I wave jovially.
"Hoi! Again. What do you fellers want?"
The gulp is clearly audible. The smirk comes unbidden to my face. Fear. I missed fear.
Some sort of messenger rides forward. He lifts an arm that has clearly never lifted anything else and a parchment unfurls.
"Beyablud the Ruiner! We come on behalf of King Engar the III! As representative of the realms of Innavia, we have embarked on this journey to -"
*Flick.* His head pops off. I turn to the men.
"Please select someone who can use 25 words or less. You have 25 seconds or less."
A bit of nervous muttering until a big scarred lad lumbers forward. He looks a bit like a troll that had sex with a warlock. Jerrick always did have a discerning eye for women.
"You. Evil fella. King needs you. Adventurers besieging the kingdom. Your old friends."
My ears perk up.
"Old friends? Could you describe any of them? Does one have a big, uhh -" I wave my hand at my forehead "-spooky looking eye, right about here?"
The troll fella nods. I grin sharp enough to split my cheek.
"Well, normally I like a blood sacrifice, but we've already covered that. Lead the way! Let's go see my old friends." Gesturing to myself, I *pull* wind towards me, sending the big lad hurtling over to land at my feet.
"Wots yer name, lad?"
"Blerkis."
"Blerkis? Beautiful. Well come, Blerkis. Carry my staff. We're going on an adventure!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The next writing prompt I use will follow on from this story. IT'LL BE SMOOTH DW.
|
LotusSaintcrow1
|
9tales
|
2023-06-19 11:52:31
|
2023-06-19 06:34:12
| 19 | 14 |
joozf7p
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jooc0pb
|
14d0psk
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14d0psk
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[WP] Your father always told you to measure twice, cut once. You may not have followed in his footsteps, but you never forgot what’s important. It’s the day of your first battle. You have your sword and your tape measure.
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Letters are actually hypnotic patterns to make you easily manipulated.
They are the perfect way for mass control: you cannot avoid them, you can't not see them, you cannot avoid to read them when they cross your visual field.
The more you read, the more susceptible you become to THEIR influence. I can't tell you who is "THEM", but I can tell you they have already won. You are under their influence. Hell, even me I'm helping them by sending you this warning.
Turn off all electronic devices. Burn all books you own. Buy your food directly from the productor and do not, DO NOT use any packaging that features any words at all. Those are the worst ones, for you read them when you are hungry and willing to do ANYTHING.
You have been warned.
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Earth is a torus around the moon which is the center of a black hole which compact matter so much it because a giant diamond.
The sun is all the matter being pulled in to the moon keeping us alive.
Etc etc etc.
Cause earth used to be one thing but someone split the god particle which caused a huge explosion thingy on the original earth scattering it into a ring. This being long long long ago.
But with the weird gravitational lensing we get it just makes it feel like we are looking out to what we think space looks like pretty much.
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Volgrand
|
Krystami
|
2023-10-12 13:45:11
|
2023-10-12 08:04:54
| 16 | 10 |
k4k7gk0
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k4j9t0q
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176092m
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176092m
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[WP] One day, magically, everyone across the world was given a superpower of their choice. Now, 5 years later, it seems your unconventional choice is paying off far more in life than your flying, super strong and mind reading friends.
|
I stand knee-deep in snow and fall back dramatically with a wide smile. I used my power... And now my life was perfect.
Everybody now have powers. Usually something out of "Superman's set" -- flight, strength, speed. Or beauty, surprisingly common, durability, mind-reading... The list is long.
And people started noticing troubles pretty much soon after. Speedsters usually did not think about the need to be fireproof or have a super reaction time. Even now I felt one making a dent in my snow pile. I greeted her, she greeted me and continued on her way.
Flyers usually were kind of slow, but it's usually fine... But it's Moscow, there are extremely windy days and areas, so they are easily carried by the winds. One seemed to have just discovered the hurricane in five minutes walking distance from me and flew across my field of view.
Strongmen and strongwomen usually were fine. More or less. Broken ribs of their loved ones, or sinking into the asphalt while trying to leverage out their cars are relatively minor compared to person shaped dents and splats.
More niche superpowers got better, but this is likely because the people taking them were thinking about mechanics of it. And this is where I come into play. See, I like building worlds. And I created a species I know everything about. When the time came I chose "shapeshifting" and have never been happier. Whatever gave us superpowers made sure that only geeks and nerds survived.
|
One day, everyone heard a voice in their head. “Choose a superpower”, it said. I chose the power to make a friend. As a twelve-year-old boy, I didn’t make the best choice. I imagined a dog. There, before me, appeared a green anthropomorphic border collie that sat and smiled at me. “Wanna catch butterflies with me?”, he asked, pulling a net out of nowhere. “Uh, no thanks.” “Okay. I’ll go on my own.” With that, he ran out the front door. Hours passed. I got worried.
Weeks went by. Then, months. Months became years. It’s been five years. I sat in my bed and cried. Suddenly, a green portal opened up. From out of it popped the dog. When he saw me, his face lit up with delight. “It's you!”, he shouted. His face went to worry. “What’s wrong?”, he asked. “My girlfriend passed away.” “I’m sorry to hear that.” He jumped onto the bed and sat next to me. “It’s gonna be alright. You have a great life ahead of you…especially if you have me.” I actually felt comforted. “So, what happened to you?”, I asked him. “I accidentally summoned a portal. I spun around in space for a few before I ended up here.” “Hmm…oh, I never told you my name. I’m Mark.” “What’s my name?” I thought. “I’ll call you Joe.”
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Sany_Wave
|
ShySilverSurvivor
|
2023-12-16 07:21:53
|
2023-12-16 05:11:12
| 47 | 33 |
kdl09yo
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kdko5ig
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18j8y9x
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18j8y9x
|
[WP] "You gaze upon your crushed army and my massed forces, why do you smile?". The captured general looked to the cloudless sky before answering "Because it's about to rain"
|
He blinked at me.
He looked to the sky - not that I was in any condition to strike when he looked away - then looked back at me, and blinked again. "You... claim to be able to summon the rain?"
"It's a matter of perspective... no, I won't technically be summoning the rain, but I know it will be coming."
"And this knowledge... makes you smile?"
"Well, it's the actual series of events that makes me smile. The rain will just be setting it off."
He blinks again. He steps on the broken spear shaft protruding from my right shoulder - he knows exactly how much pressure to apply to avoid rendering me unconcious. It hurts like a motherfucker, to be sure - I still try my best to force through a smile. Keeping his boot in place, he asks, "What series of events?"
I think back to that old movie. "Lay your hand flat, palm up, and place a lit firecracker on your palm. It explodes, it stings, but your hand is still okay. If you close your fist around that firecracker, and it blows, your wife will be opening your pickle jars for the rest of your life."
"What series of events?"
I smile again. "You see all those holes we cut in the street before you got here?"
He sneers. "You caused exactly one twisted ankle - I was fond of that horse."
"Yeah, sorry about that. But, you see that silvery-white metal at the bottom of those holes? That is sodium metal."
"Sodium... metal?"
I smile again. "This complex... was built over the single largest deposit of nearly pure sodium metal on this planet. Best estimate, nearly eight thousand tons all in one place. And sodium metal reacts quite violently with water - it was pure serendipity that all that sodium was encased in granite."
A slight shift of pressure, and I get fresh waves of pain crashing through my body. He asks, "And you believe that it is about to rain?"
I point to the sky with my left hand. "I know it is."
The Camelback-class water transport can literally make it rain, carrying several million gallons of water to drought striken areas on other planets, with a cloaking system to hide it from more primitive civilizations. As I point, he looks up, just in time to watch the decloaking of the Nimbus, the Oasis, the Hurricane Junior, the Wet Willy, the Typhoonery Buffoonery, the Dromedary, the Downpour...
|
The blade was drawn. The tall and imposing man stared me down. I was on my knees, cuts over my chest, my arms and my legs. I had stood there in the pass with a five thousand strong band of brothers, and beneath the blazing sun we had fallen, one by one, into the mud assembled by the blood and sweat. Four ten hours, our numbers had dwindled, until their thirty thousand strong horde had overwelmed us. Their horses had crushed us under their hooves. Their arrows had cut into us like we had cut the stone in our small villages but a few days earlier, when no one had any idea of the legions that would march into our lands. And at last, after there were hills of bodies strewn around me and the armored warlord, he raised his warhammer, with a head the size of an anvil and the handle the length of a javelin. And at that moment I knew that no regular man, not even the twisted creatures of Akár, could lift it.
And I stared him in the eye as he placed the hammer above me, and as he carefully lifted it the last inches before he punched me. The very dirt that had been filled with my people's blood seemed to take a breath. The air above us began smelling heavy, much like a summer's day when the sun finally gave way to clouds. I broke eye contact with him for a moment, and spared but a second's look at the sky. I wouldn't have had to, of course. The shadows on the hills and cliffs around us was enough to herald the appearance of rain clouds in the sky. So I looked him in the eye once again, and I smiled. In the face of what would bring the end of the first line of Varín kings, I smiled. And together with the rain that cascaded down and washed the blood, sweat and tears that the bravest and strongest men in the world had felled before their ultimate end, the hammer that ended all hope for a future for my love of Varía came down and slew me. And though I was gone, as I joined my ancestors in the heavens I could see one thing above all. The men of Akár were made of sugar.
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Zestyclose_Bed4202
|
ToreWi
|
2024-05-13 03:07:30
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2024-05-12 19:12:49
| 18 | 11 |
l3su3hv
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l3qybsr
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1cq30ns
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1cq30ns
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[WP] The hero is 16, he raises his wand. The villain steps into a time warp. Now the hero is 26, with a wife and two kids. Just fired, behind on the mortgage, the car blew its transmission. What else could go wrong? The "villain" reappears.
|
Born to the snow. It was all he had known. Ezra trudged through the snow one more step at a time, dragging a sled across the packed snow behind him full of important supplies.
His mule had perished a day and a half ago, taken by the unexpected temperature drop. Ezra wanted nothing more than to stop, to lay down, to rest. But he knew if he stopped here, among the ice and snow, he would never get up, and his supplies would never arrive.
As he dragged the sled he focused on taking the next step, focused on the image of lying in a warm bath, next to a roaring fire, in a dark room with his eyes closed. Tried to imagine what it was like to feel warmth. He could imagine the flickering flames, but in his mind the fire gave him no warmth, the water gave him no rest. The imagined darkness was ruined by the glaring but cold sun overhead that had not set in over a week.
He stumbled forward, plunging into the snow as the rope for the sled slipped out of his grip. After righting himself again, he saw his hand was discolored, and it wouldn't move when he tried to close his fingers. A chill unrelated to the cold passed down his spine, but he did not allow his exhausted mind to dwell. Instead he tried as best as he could to loop the rope around himself. He got it good enough after minutes struggling with numb or dead fingers, and then took another step. Another step. Another step.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, just as he was beginning to wonder if his memories of humanity, of civilization were just dreams, a building became visible.
His feet and hands were numb, his legs and chest burning. Seeing his end so close, his muscles began to spasm, making each step harder than the last, but Ezra pressed forward. He had to make it.
Finally, he reached the old building, the local hospital. The windows had been covered up to keep the heat from escaping. They had been waiting for him, for these supplies, but the sudden rise in the bitter cold had caught them all by surprise.
He tried to knock on the door, but his shaking arms couldn't seem to make much sound, and shooting pain ran down his arms when he tried to knock with frozen fingers. Desperate, he slammed his shoulder against it, and heard a satisfying thump at least.
That's when his legs gave out. He slumped into the snowbank by the door, legs and arms unresponsive. He should have felt cold, but even that sensation was drifting.
As his mind slowly slipped into unconsciousness, it dreamed of fire, of a warm endless lake, and of enough darkness that his eyes could relax. He dreamed of endless warmth, of a place he would never feel cold again.
Ezra didnt feel it, or know it, but he passed away that day. His delivery however, was still in time to treat the disease that had begun to spread in the town. Ezra himself passed from this world, to recieve his eternal reward for a life lived selflessly.
The lake of fire, the lake of burning blackness, wasn't intended as a reward. But to each their own.
Ezra now, and for time eternal, can be found floating in the lake of fire, arms crossed behind his head, eyes closed, resting from his labors, where he will never be cold again.
|
(Comments appreciated.)
"You're telling me that he'd be happier… here? In hell?" The demon had never in his thousands of years heard such a thing. How could a perfectly moral and well-rounded human be happier in a state of eternal hell? It made no sense to him.
He turned away from the angel, paused, and turned back with little more than a stutter.
"Just—ok just send him in and I'll talk to him."
The angel nodded to the demon and let in the man. He looked absolutely average. There was nothing peculiar about his looks or the way he carried himself into the dungeon. But, something felt off. His 5'5" demeanor and his 9-5, chestnut brown haircut smelt of death itself. It confused the demon greatly.
The demon sized the human up and down too many times before saying this: "So you want to be in hell. Why?"
"I dunno." The man spoke, gentle and tired.
"Are you a masochist?" The demon's first question was reasonable.
…
"No."
Hmmm, this is interesting indeed, the demon thought to itself.
"Are you a… sado-masochist?"
"No." Said the man, more firmly this time.
The demon and human spent many, many hours poking and being poked. But to no avail. The questions weren't helpful and the demon was getting tired.
"Why can't you just say it?!" The demon was fierce and angry, but mainly annoyed.
The human was still and slumped over, much like he would be at his help-desk. And the scene in the air was looking more than grim. If the demon couldn't find out why, he had no idea what he was supposed to do. He wondered more before deciding to call HR (Hell Resources, for those unaware). The phone rang so long and with such terribly compressed music. But someone finally answered.
"Yes, hello?" The operator was already mad.
"Yes, um, I have a human who doesn't seem to belong in hell." The demon pleaded for help.
"If he's here there's a reason." A click followed and the phone was dead. The demon was seriously frustrated—depressed even.
He turned back to the human again and asked him one last time, "Why? Why are you here?"
"Maybe you should call them to ask." He said.
The demon started picking at his wings, little by little until the picking was scratching. He was anxious now. "Please just tell me."
"I don't feel like it." The human was devastating. His words were more painful to bear than Satan's help-line.
The demon fell apart. He fell onto his knees and stared at the floor in wonder. He just wanted the pain to stop. But, you see, the man was indeed a sado-masochist, but of course he would never admit that. His game with the demon was too much fun to give up.
Does it not make sense for such a man to be here? He spent all his life in front of a screen building a 401k that mattered no more. He was done with his old trivialities and wanted something more. He wanted to see hell itself suffer under his pure mundaneness.
Don't you understand? What are you, five? The best joy of a sado-masochist is their twisted games of sidelined gaslighting.
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Andrew_42
|
None
|
2023-06-29 20:07:47
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2023-06-29 20:07:33
| 175 | 57 |
jq1ecug
|
jq1ebis
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14m6mdv
|
b2p8z4
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[WP] A deadly virus spreads across the earth killing everything it infects but humans are totally immune and the last species alive on earth
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No animals, no meat. No plants, no vegetables. No food. What happens to a species completely alone on its own planet. Our insides are always in agony due to our gut bacteria dying along with all the other life forms.
On the plus side, besides painful bowel movements our immune system being weakened to absolutely nothing has caused no ill effects for us because all the other viruses and dangerous bacteria are also dead.
At least all our water sources are clean and pure. A very small win in a sea of misery and banality.
I suppose the burning question is "what do you eat then?." I'm sure cannibalism jumps to mind immediately, and the answer of course is yes. What the fuck else can we eat? Rocks? There's nothing here but humans, rocks, metals and plastics.
When the virus hit there wasn't chaos at all. Everything just seemed pretty fuckin miserable. We spread out the animals and preserved as many crops as possible. We had a few decades to get our plan in order. One by one every species disappeared. The silence of the planet is haunting at times. No wind blowing through foliage, no songs of birds. Just the cold howling through buildings and stone.
So we never had to resort to cooking villagers in pots, but we did have to consume human flesh. It was the only source of nutrients on this yellow and blue shithole now. We created awful machines. That grew human flesh. DNA was donated randomly. We made sure to swap samples from different regions so we didn't have to eat our own meat. It all tasted the fucking same anyway. We used the fat as tallow. Different organ tissue for flavour. Sour flavours, some sickly sweet. At least we have plenty of salt!
I was in my 20's when we finally ran out of real food. For some reason my biggest craving throughout the years has been for lettuce. My friend used to grow some in his garden and it was amazing. So fresh, so green. We used to load it into our ham and cheddar sandwiches.
It's sad how things have turned out. This will change what we are. In a few generations we will have no immune system at all and could be wiped out by a cold which escapes the melting ice. That's if the virus doesn't get to it first.
We are a monster absorbing ourselves for eternity. uroboros. At least the Norse got something right about Ragnarok. Or was it the rapture? Everything worth a damn was taken from this earth.
So fucking boring.
|
"The virus" was treated like a Boogeyman story for a long time. News anchors would do interviews with politicians, asking if they believed in "the virus," people would be arrested at rallies protesting government lack of intervention to stop "the virus," and more and more species would silently slip away into non-existence with only the scientific community and gen-z screaming at the top of their lungs about the tragedy befalling the earth. By the time people began to notice that food was starting to become scarce, trees were dying, and flowers stopped blooming, it was too late. Beloved pets were gone, farming communities torn apart, the Amazon-once buzzing with the noise of thousands of species, was silent. The masses with their heads in the sand would shout "We don't understand, the virus isn't real! They told us it wasn't real!" Those who had complained about the cost of fixing "the virus" found themselves at the pointed end of pitchforks. And those who had tried, for decades, to help cure "the virus" just resigned themselves to their deaths, their torment of watching all they loved disappear from the world and being the last alive to watch the Earth decay as humanity fought each other. They lamented that they could not do more than present evidence and facts, show footage of the devastation on species, write policy papers, hold conferences, create educational videos and content to spread to the people, sacrifice their health and sleep to travel to remote places and record the decline of the penguins, the elephants, the fireants, the frogs, the beetles, the rabbits, the swallows-and so on and so on until there was nothing left to record. They lamented they could not do more than that, some type of one other thing that may have finally made the difference to those who didn't believe "the virus" was real, who didn't want to fund a cure because raising business taxes would be too much of a burden on corporations, who didn't enact policy changes because lobbyists said "the virus" wasn't a threat, it would go away on its own, the earth would fix itself, we would develop immunity. They lamented because they were too few and too late.
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Doctoredspooks
|
Left_Writist
|
2023-02-15 18:04:37
|
2023-02-15 17:54:00
| 70 | 14 |
j8nuggn
|
j8nsts4
|
1131gcr
|
1131gcr
|
[WP] A male wizard sells his future firstborn for knowledge to a demon. A female warlock sells her future firstborn to the fae for power. The two of them have a child together, and now the fae and demon have come to collect.
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"The lengths some people will go to get ahead in life, eh?"
Melody of the fae shook her head as Tatiana the demon walked with her down a cobblestone road under the cover of darkness. As Tatiana gripped her lover's hand, she replied, "Though I'll never understand why the mortals are so apathetic towards the process, I'm not one to complain over a simplistic contract. Are you certain our disguises will hold up?"
Melody giggled. "Darling, please, a little faith. You demons are deceptive in your own right, but you'll find no stronger illusions than those of a faerie. Nobody save for the parents will know who or what we are." Melody looked to her left and tapped Tatiana on the shoulder. "We're here!"
Tatiana turned to face the building before them; a potion and magic tome shop with a sign shaped like a lion's head. Tatiana used her demonic power to unlock the door and held it open for Melody. As the two entered the shop, a young boy with a broom sweeping in front of the counter looked over at the pair. Melody smiled at the boy and said, "Excuse me, we're looking for the owners."
The boy averted his eyes and quietly said, "In the back."
The two thanked the boy and made their way through the shop until they found a door in the back of the room. They opened it up to reveal Albert and Alma Rainsdottir, poring over financial records. The two looked up and went wide eyed at the sight of Melody and Tatiana as the latter remarked, "Hello friends. The boy up front directed us back here--"
Albert shoved the women aside and stormed out into the shop. Suddenly, a loud *SMACK* rang through the building as Albert yelled, "WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT TALKING TO PEOPLE?!!"
The boy cried out and whimpered, "F--father, please! They were asking for you--"
"DON'T GIVE ME YOUR EXCUSES!" Albert smacked the boy again as Tatiana and Melody stared at the doorway in horror. Alma sighed deeply and said, "The boy out there is yours to do with as you please. Though I imagine a magicless waste like him won't do you much--"
Melody abruptly cut off Alma by slamming her head against the desk. As Alma slumped over unconscious, Tatiana walked out into the shop and grabbed Albert's wrist as hellfire burned her handprint into his arm. Before Albert could scream, Tatiana gripped his throat with her other hand and hissed, "Touch the boy again and I'll break you in half."
Melody dragged Alma's body out and kneeled down next to the boy. "What's your name?"
"S--Sebastian."
"Hi Sebastian. My name is Melody, and this is my wife Tatiana. Your parents made a deal with us and the price they had to pay was...well, you."
Sebastian's eyes were void of any shock or confusion. "That sounds like them."
Tatiana placed a hand on Sebastian's shoulder and softly said, "You don't need to be afraid anymore, okay? You're safe with us. Nobody's ever gonna hurt you again."
Sebastian started to tear up before breaking down into wild tears and collapsing into Tatiana's arms. Tatiana gently lifted her boy up and tenderly caressed his head. As Melody joined in, she whispered, "We're gonna burn down the shop on our way out, right?"
"Of course. Our boy deserves that peace of mind."
|
Once upon a time, there was a roguish lad named Gwinett eho was a clever trickster. Gwinnett was proud of his genius and the cons he played on his fellows, and he thought to himself, "What delights I might attain if I knew how to trick and fool the secret forces of the world?" Gwinett knew enough to find the demon Baazphemet, bound in a mountain cave, and in return for freeing the foul beast and promising his firstborn, the demon opened Gwinetts eyes to the rhythms of magic. Henceforth would Gwinett use esoteric knowledge in the service of kings and emperors.
Gardenia was a meek maid in the employ of a cruel lord. She had very little control over how she worked, or even how she lived. Gardenia hated her life but she was always kind to the little animals that lived on her lord's grounds, empathizing with them. One day, a faerie princess Frithaya saw the girl feeding scraps to mice and took pity on her. He asked her what she wanted, and she said, "Above all else, I wish for the power to live on my own terms, and I'd do anything to get it." The faerie Frithaya bade Gardenia to promise her firstborn and to slay her cruel lord with her magical gifts, and henceforth did Gardenia earn a reputation as a mighty and powerful witch.
It came to pass that Gwinett was tasked by a king to deal with the upstart witch, but Gwinett fell in love with Gardenia instead and vowed to serve her as majordomo. Gardenia, too, found Gwinetts clever mind and tongue most charming, and together they fought against the rightful rulers of the land, upending centuries of peace and tradition in favor of anarchy and chaos. Peasants fooled by promises of freedom flocked to the witch and wizard, and for years they held firm against the brave knights of the realm.
Gardenia became gravid with child, but the prideful couple feared naught. They hadn't even told one another the full nature of their pact, believing themselves invincible and devilishly clever indeed. They named the baby Halthex, but upon the infant's cries both Baazphemet and Frithaya appeared. The demon and the faerie both claimed the child, and Gwinett and Gardenia said "You both desire the child, but only one of you can take Halthex. Who shall it be, we wonder?", attempting to set their patrons against one another.
And demon and faerie did fight, but as they fought they tore the mewling Halthex in twain, each taking their half of the body in bitter victory. In fury at mortal trickery, Baazphemet cursed Gwinett to be an imbecile, and Frithaya stole Gardenia's will to power. Without his mind Gwinett could no longer devise strategems against the armies of the king, and without her will Gardenia could not rouse herself from her grief.
So did the rebellion fall, and the wizard and witch were put to the flame. Order was restored and righteousness reigned ever after. And if you should trifle with powers beyond your station and profane the divine, by the flames of Hell and the chaos of the Fae, so too will it end in disaster, children.
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jardanovic
|
FenrisL0k1
|
2023-02-03 19:48:07
|
2023-02-03 14:28:05
| 21 | 15 |
j73cicp
|
j71ypn2
|
10sal7x
|
10sal7x
|
[WP] Guests at an old castle-turned-hotel often wake up in the morning feeling light-headed, as if they're suffering from blood loss. This is odd to everyone, especially the family that owns the castle; they may be vampires, but they get their blood from a bank like civilized people.
|
"I'm sorry, but we can't offer a credit for your night here," Mina the Ninth said frantically. "We never received a deposit of type...A?"
"B+!" The tourist screamed before pointing to a bandage on his neck. Guests in the lobby glanced at him. He seemed a little nervous at the attention, but kept an angry gaze at Mina.
Mina felt her fangs dig into her inner bottom lip, not enough to show fang but more than enough to make an eventual minute swell that'd just bug her into the next day. Just a little bump in her mouth that she'd just try to lick away.
She composed herself and lifted a company smartphone. "Can you show me the withdrawal point?"
"Um." The tourist leaned back, his gut seemingly more prominent in the fluorescent lobby light. "It healed pretty quickly, so it's not--just give me the credit."
"Sir, I need to take the photo for our quality records." Mina raised her phone.
"No, you bled me! And now you want pics?!"
Mina stepped back. "No, it's just for records. Our insurance and internal staff training--"
"Oh that's what you call it!?"
The lobby fell silent and every guest exchanged nervous looks. Mina looked back at the tourist and squared her shoulders. "Sir, I'll need a picture as a record. It'll help us track down anyone who may have withdrawn without consent."
"It healed quickly! It's just how vampires work!!"
Mina winced, almost embarrassed for the tourist. She met his gaze and he quickly looked away. "I-I didn't mean. I just--well, you all just, you know."
Mina felt the same twinge she did when she went to school as a little girl. "Sir, the healing only works when we turn a consenting. When we feed on a human who stays human, it always leaves marks. It...it's why we always ask."
An elderly woman behind the tourist spoke. "Maybe, just take the bandage off, dear?"
The lobby crowd whispered amongst itself.
"It's not going anywhere if it was just bit last night, right?"
"Vampire saliva is still a Schedule II substance."
Mina felt a little more encouraged as she saw the nods around the room. The tourist felt the attention and puffed his chest. "I don't need the credit. I won't be staying here."
"Good." The elderly woman said.
As the tourist sauntered off with his oversized luggage that matched his sense of self, Mina exhaled and wondered. Was he wrong?
More guests had been claiming blood loss, but none of her staff showed signs of the energy boost. However, 4 in a row within the last month was more than a coincidence or a cheap attempt to gain free board.
|
In the depths of the Transylvanian mountains lies a beautiful hotel.
It used to be a castle, a fortress, a place of protection against enemies, and today it continues to offer a spot for those in need of rest.
With extremely good reviews concerning the staff, the hotel's vibe, and food, there is only one thing that affects its reputation.
Guests often wake up in the morning, feeling light-headed.
Indeed, feeling light-headed, a bit dizzy can mean a lot of things, but due to this hotel being in Transylvania...imagination blooms a very specific flower.
Vampires.
People started rumors about the fact that the family that owns the castle...that they might be vampires.
But they are right, but wrong.
They guessed it correctly, the owners are vampires, but like any other civilized people, they are buying their blood from a blood blank.
The owners of the castle find it amusing though, and often play pranks on the guests.
Knocks in the walls, walking on the roof, shadow's being cast out of nowhere...
The usual vampire shenanigans.
Although, as the complaints about light-headedness escalated, the family made a move.
They changed all the lights, they renovated, changed all the beds, and pillows.
They made sure the walls aren't moldy, and that their color while authentic, it's not upsetting to the eyes.
It took them 3 months and a lot of effort, but all their changes were made.
The only thing they left untouched were their recipes for the delicious food that everyone was attracted too.
All this...worked.
No longer was light-headedness, and dizziness a common feeling for guests.
Yes, some still felt it, but that could have been due to the changes of the environment, as this hotel was deep in the mountains, surrounded by forests.
Air quality, humidity and other factors were much more different than in the city.
This change made the regular guests fall in love even more deeply with the hotel, and its reputation just grew.
The jokes about vampires were still made, especially since the owners often dined at the hotel, and their looks always attracted attention, but it was just that...jokes.
The hotel continues to this day to be a renowned tourist attraction, a place where one can forget about their worries for a while, and relax, enjoying Nature's beauty.
|
CompetitiveProject4
|
TheWanderingBook
|
2024-08-26 06:19:04
|
2024-08-26 04:07:00
| 70 | 40 |
ljz3zlm
|
ljyqb49
|
1f1cfov
|
1f1cfov
|
[WP] Human society has collapsed since the vanishings began. Anyone left alone, unseen or untouched by another person, stops existing. Those who remain now survive as herds, sleeping in huddled masses and always touching in some way while awake.
|
Nikki wakes up but did not see her parents. She saw her aunt Lola, her uncle Marcus & her cousins, but not them. She starts to panic then she hears her mom’s voice, “Nikki, calm down, baby. Your father and I are here.”
Nikki turns around relieved. “Good morning, Mom, good morning Daddy.”
“Morning, baby girl”, Hiram says. “We’re just reinforcing the tethers on our jackets. We just got up earlier than you. Here have a muffin. They’re your favorite.”
“Blueberry?!”
“Yes”, her mom Gina said.
“Cool!”
She starts to eat her breakfast when music on the radio is interrupted with a news announcement.
“Breaking news. Officials have announced there have been a string of 25 Fadings as of this week. It is highly, highly suggested to not wander off by yourself under any circumstances. Officials have declared an Outing Level 6 until further notice. We return you to your scheduled program.”
“Man! 25? There hasn’t been that many in such a short period for a long time,” Uncle Marcus said.
Nikki asks, “Outing Level 6?”
Hiram answers, “ It means if you have to go out at least have six others with you in your Huddle. And make sure you’re tethered to each other just to be safe.”
Lola agrees, “Huddle up & tether up.”
Nikki goes to her cousins after eating to play & the adults look at them all from the table.
“25? Really?” Lola exclaims, “What are people thinking? The Fading hasn’t stopped. Just slowed. Why risk it? Why?”
Gina says, “You know folk always want what they used to have. A sense of normalcy and their old way of life, Lo.”
“Well this is our new way and our new normal! We haven’t been able to go out alone for over twelve years! I don’t like it, but at least we know there’s safety in numbers! At least take three to get where you need to be!”
“You and your quotes”, laughs Marcus.
“They keep me sane, baby, and remind you all! Shoot! Tired of losing loved ones.”, Lola said.
“Lola, we all are”, Hiram says, “We all are. That’s why we make sure to stay together at least three minimum to stay safe.”
“That reminds me”, Gina says, “ Maybe we can invite some people over for the next two week over for added safety? I’m thinking the Anderson family and that nice book group that does poetry readings on local radio cast.”
“I don’t see why not. The kids will like more people their age to play with and we can stand to talk to some more adults. I’ll reach out to Anderson by teleradio,” Marcus said.
“Good!”
(*Background* When the Fading started, everyone at first thought it was kidnappings ramped up to 11. But more and more were winding up missing and the common thing was people were alone or went unnoticed. At first it was people on the streets, then recluses, people gave no mind. But when a line jogger vanished mid afternoon people realized something was wrong. People started to go in twos at first but couples Faded. So people made sure to at least go out in threes. It was fine until someone was ignored by the other two and they Faded while they were focused on each other. That’s when people realized you have to keep people in your line of sight or in physical contact. Hence the tethers on clothing. Clothes and outfits now all have tethers on them. At least one on each side. Instead of a small car or vehicle. People ride public transit if they go out. Subway cars, buses, trains. People go in Huddles [groupings] to be safe. The Fading affected technology in certain areas also. Gone are computers like in the 21st century and internet. Radios, walkie-talkies are used.)
|
13.7 billion years. That's how long it took for the rules of reality to collapse. The concept of the "universe" can be interpreted in many different ways. Is it everything? Or is it a simple part of the true grandeur of infinity? That question may never be answered. However, what is known, or, what humanity thought they knew, is that the laws of the universe were set in stone. It had not all been figured out, not even in the slightest, but humanity was quite sure that the laws of physics were truly unchangeable. But that all changed on one fateful day. November 4th, 2026. That is the date that the Shift happened.
​
As I faded into consciousness, I could hear my bagmate's thunderous snores erupting from my right side. I turned my head, and he was lying there, sound asleep. "DRRRRING!" The alarm clock sounded, and I could see the rest of my group starting to vacate their sleeping bags. My stomach groaned as I walked over to the refrigerator. "Hey guys, I don't think this is gonna be enough food for today," I said, in the loudest voice my tiring vocal cords could muster. "FUUUUCK!" screamed Henry, as he started pacing around the room. "We're going to have to go back to the field, bring some of your electronics to give to the farmers," our leader said, locking his eyes on me. Last time we had went to the field, I had brought the wrong box, and we weren't able to get as much food from the farmers. For about a week after that incident, I had felt my entire group giving me the stinkeye. But hey, at least they were still looking at me. As we marched outside, we formed a V shape. Of course, Leader put me in the back, making me rely on holding the hands of those in front of me. Whenever someone does something wrong, they always have to go to the back of the V whenever we leave. It's cruel, but necessary. To get to the farmer's field, we had to traverse a small forest. Great. Martin and Jake were in front of me, and were holding both of my hands. Suddenly, I felt like I was falling. I looked below me, and-- Oh shit. This was bad. Very bad. Martin and Jake were too spread apart to notice it before, but there was a hole in the ground covered by leaves and vines. I had just fallen in. As the grips of my groupmates faltered, I could feel it. Calling. The void.
Where is it? Where is it? Where is it? Where is it? I could feel it. I can no longer feel it. I can no longer feel anything. Nothing but the endless expanse. I look up, all I see is an endless hole. I look down. Endless hole. I am not falling. I am not rising. I am simply here. However, I do not feel like I am here. I am here. I am not here. I am here. I am not here. **I am both.** Ever since that day, I have felt different. More selfless. Like whatever I could do could no longer help me. I could only help others. They could help me. I am powerless over myself. Now, in this purgatory, all I can do is observe, **but am I truly observing?** Wait. I get it. I know what this is. I look down. I do not see myself. I focus. I cannot see my familiar nose in the center of my vision, obfuscated by my brain. I am not here. Yet, here I am. How can I define "here"? How can "I" define "I"? What am "I"? "I" cannot observe "me". I cannot comprehend "me". No one is observing "me". Not even "me".
|
LumpyGuard6048
|
beckethbrother
|
2023-03-07 16:40:38
|
2023-03-07 15:19:14
| 46 | 29 |
jbab4bd
|
jb9yvsc
|
11kuq71
|
11kuq71
|
[WP] “Why should I care what you think, dad? Humans only live for a hundred years if they’re lucky! Me and mom will be here for thousands!”
|
“Why should I care what you think, dad? Humans only live for a hundred years if they’re lucky! Me and mom will be here for thousands!”
The second the words left my lips I knew I'd made a mistake. My father had never been an emotional man, but I saw his screwed jaw relax into a frown, and then soften to nothing. He took half a breath, opening his mouth to speak before reconsidering his words.
He wouldn't meet my eyes.
"Dad..."
"You're right. I've got 40 or so left. Good point." My dad shoved his hands in his pockets and backed out of the room, closing the door behind him as he did.
I stared at the door for a moment. It was going to open right? He'd come back and scream at me, tell me that I'd been rude and that I shouldn't talk back to him like that and--
It didn't open. He didn't come back. I'd wanted him to leave me alone. I'd won, right? This was what I wanted and...
I flopped backward onto my bed and stared at the false starts on the ceiling for too long. I was right. He was only going to be here for 40 years. I'd still be in school when I was attending his funeral. What the hell? Was he even going to know where I worked? When I found a mate, when--
The door opened, I sat up.
Dad was back in the doorway, his arms crossed as he leaned against the frame. He'd cleaned his glasses while he was out. Dad didn't speak for the first seconds, just taking several deep breaths. Was he building up courage? How much was he going to yell. I deserved all of it. I just wanted to know.
"Cass," he said. My name sounded so human when he shortened it. "I just wanted to come back and--"
"Dad, I'm so sorry."
"Cass," he said, "just let me finish. I came back because I was hurt by what you said--"
"I know I'm sorry--"
"I was hurt by what you said, but it's also just true. I need you to think about it the way that I do." Dad stepped into the room and joined me on the bed, sitting beside me while I crossed my legs to make room. "I'm only going to be here for a short time in your life, right?"
"Yeah and I'm so--"
"Cass it's not about being sorry. But I should have talked to you about this more before." He put an arm on my shoulder. "You're right, in the long term for you, what I think won't matter unless you make sure it does."
"What?"
"Your Mom has a whole lifetime to figure out what you mean to each other. Heck. You're gonna be an old lady before she's hitting 1000. But Cass, I-- I don't have that long."
"I know and I'm sorry about what I said, I didn't mean--"
"Kid." He squeezed my shoulder. "It's not about being sorry. I don't have that long to make an impression on you, but I really want to ensure that I do."
"Dad."
"You don't have to care what I think, and there's no good reason why you should Cass, but I hope you want to. That's my job right."
"I--"
"Can't only be a pest for 40 years. You need more lectures than that young yady."
"Dad... ugh."
|
I grounded my teenage son, this didn't sit well with him, and summoned an oversized tortoise that destroyed our livingroom.
My wife was still out working, so I had to have a talk with him.
Entering his room, I saw him weightlifting his special weights...they weighed like ten tons.
"Son...
You shouldn't behave like that, and you certainly shouldn't use your powers so freely...think about the rest of us around you.", i said.
He let the weights fall, but thankfully his room was protected, and it didn't crash through the floor.
"Why?
Why should I care what you think, dad?
Humans only live for a hundred years if they're lucky! Me and mom will be here for thousands!", he exclaimed.
I smiled.
"So you don't care about your friends, with whom you game daily?", I asked.
He froze a bit.
"And how about those cute girls in your school that always look for a chance to be next to you?", I asked.
He blushed a bit.
Yep, I knew we didn't raise him to be such a cold soul, so why...oh no...
I looked at him, and sighed.
"Is one of your friends...", I muttered.
He angrily stared at me, before nodding.
"That's how life is.", is all I could say.
"But we will be here...even thousands of years later...by then...everybody...even you...", he whispered.
I sat down next to him, and hugged him.
"That's how life is, but you will not be alone. Promise me that you will never be alone.
There will be others by your side, not just your mom...
I know it's selfish from me to ask this, but please, try not to be alone.", I said to him.
He gently pushed me away, but I still fell down pretty hard.
"And what?
Go through the pain of losing my friends dozens, hundreds, thousands of times?!", he screamed.
"You are not losing them...
They are simply moving onto the next step, you should know this better than anyone on this planet...death, is not a stop.", I said.
"But it's still painful! To see them wither away!", he cried.
I hugged him again.
"Be with them. Support them. Remember them. Be better for them.
Honor them with your actions, be someone they can be proud of.", I said.
He pushed me away again, and stormed out...
As I walked down, I saw my wife pouting in the doorway...where a door should have been.
"Teenagers...", she smiled.
I nodded, and brought her up to speed, she just shrugged and kissed me.
"Good job, even I couldn't have done it better.
He might go through a hermit phase down the line for a few decades maybe, but he will come around...
So, what do you want for dinner?", she asked, going to the kitchen.
I smiled and told her whatever she wants is fine, thinking how was I so lucky to have such a family...
|
Writteninsanity
|
TheWanderingBook
|
2024-08-14 16:56:28
|
2024-08-14 16:31:41
| 381 | 82 | null |
mwfp3ej
|
1es40qy
|
1l5b55d
|
[WP] Everyone summoned some relativly normal familiars and even some extremely rare ones were summoned. But who cares about a dragon or hydra when your axolotl is telling you cosmic knowledge beyond human comprehension.
|
Fire and wind swirled around the room, golden chimes echoing off the stone walls of the cabin. Wings, wreathed in crimson scales seemed to sprout from a single point and yet were always there. Until finally, a dragon, spectral yet mighty landed within the room, staring at a young boy, barely into his teens. Gradually, carefully, the dragon's form seemed to approach the boy. The boy shook and his terror and joy were plain on his face, but still, he refused to turn to run as half of the class had. The dragon's snout touched his forehead, almost gently. And the form seemed to turn to mist and flow into the young boy.
Then... silence. No one seemed to talk or breathe. Until all at once, the room exploded into cheering. The teacher sputtering, with both excitement and horror, as if he could tell there was more to this young boy than just a familiar of great power.
"So what does it mean?" I asked the small unassuming spectral creature floating in circles along my neck.
"Doom will befall the child. And doom will befall his chosen friends. Pain and suffering, until the world is changed by his hand." A voice said quietly enough that a pin could drown it out.
"So he's going to die?" I asked, staring at the boy, laugh and cry like this was the first time he'd gotten affirmation.
"Many times. In many places." The voice whispered over the cheers.
"And so will his friends." I said, not as a question, but carefully and sadly looking at the 3 people cheering the loudest.
"Only once per each similar to most mortals."
The class seemed to settle down, but the words of my familiar rang in my head.
"CLASS! Please settle down... I know... it's a lot to take in... but we do need to continue." The old man, his face old enough for wrinkles yet still not old enough for his hair to have lost its color, wiped his brow. His mind looked almost like it was somewhere else as another student came up to the summoning circle.
The wind began to start again.
I took the distraction to extend my hand, and the creature around my neck swam through the air, spiraling around my arm until it coiled itself around my thumb and in the palm of my hand.
It was colored a slight pink beyond the haze of the blue spectral residue. Antlers jutted out from its creased face, on the same level as its deep and pitch black eyes. It's tail held a fin at the end, and it swayed slightly as it stared at me.
An axolotl.
The wind began to pick up again, and a roar began to shake the foundation of the stones. A stench of brimstone and sulfur permeated the air, as a long snake-like head burst through the summoning circle, followed quickly by another and another and another.
"You said most mortals." I asked my familiar, staring at the infinite abyss in its eyes. A hiss louder than an avalanche tore through the room, followed by the screams of my classmates. But I stayed where I was.
"How do I live past death?" My breath held in my throat. The memory of a hospital machine beeping seared its way to the forefront of my mind. The pins in my legs and back gently stung as I leaned over my familiar.
Expressionless, the axolotl turned its head towards the raging and screaming teenager, furiously demanding the hydra submit to his will.
"Absorb the life of both the accursed and the blessed. Prevent the change and revert the world to the old. That is the only way for you to become immortal."
I looked up as my classmate rushed into the circle, escaping the grasping hand of the teacher, and plunged a makeshift sword into the golden scales of the hydra. Climbing it. And with each stab higher, he seemed to absorb more and more of the hydra. The heads seemed slower as they bit at him. Their form less solid.
I looked over at the skinny boy, his head held high, shielding his 3 friends by stepping in front of them. His eyes were fixed on the battle at the front of the classroom.
"If I absorb his life..."
"They will die. And the story of this world will change. It will veer into an unknown."
A laugh from the front of the room called for my attention. Boasts from someone who seemed too afraid to ever let his accomplishments be dismissed.
"How do I absorb a life?" I asked.
The small familiar with the infinite eyes looked at me, expressionless.
And whispered to me knowledge long forgotten.
|
Sunlight streams through the window, its gentle warmth mingling with the distant sounds of activity below, coaxing you from slumber. Your siblings burst into the room and jump on the bed. You wish you could sleep through this day as any other Sunday.
"Jake, Jake, wake up!" Their voices, buzzing with excitement, slice through the morning silence, jolting you awake.
"Why are you not ready?!" Your mom exclaims as she frantically walks into the room and throws a heap of clothes at you. They're still warm from the sunlight outside and smell of wheat that grows in a field nearby.
"We're leaving in 10 minutes; your dad has prepared the mounts already", she comes closer to kiss you on the forehead. "I'm so proud of you, this is such a big day for us."
You get up and start pulling on the beige wide linen pants and an oversized shirt your mom has prepared for you. You wash your teeth and glance in the mirror. Hair all over the place, puffy dark eyebags with sleep marks on your face. Not that much different from a casual day, except for the traditional regalia that looks out of place on you.
You step outside and gasp. The horses decorated with various colourful wildflowers and shining gemstones. Next to them, your dad - dressed sharply. It's quite unusual for him to be in anything but work clothes. His familiar is a chestnut workhorse; he spent most of his life on a farm since the Summoning day. You mount the horse and gallop towards the city center.
Dread for this day has been simmering since your first day at Glogsdale Spiritual School. The studies, the preparation, and the investments into this day are massive each year. Each student meticulously learns about familiars: their classes and types of work they're best suited for, how to take care of them and the traditions and ceremonies when summoning them.
A few graduates are in front of you in the line. That's good, at least, you're not the first one.
"Hey Jake, ready to join the fields with your common sheep summon?" a high-pitched mocking voice gabs behind you with a couple of laughs that followed.
You try to ignore it and look at the podium in front of you. A tall, slender woman dressed in all green with a red rose on her shoulder walks in. It's starting. You zone out throughout all the formalities that follow.
"A crimson-eyed lava parakeet, great for the volcano scouting", the announcer remarks. The ceremony drags on a bit, but there have been a couple of rare familiars followed by audience gasps and ovations.
Your heart races, your breath quickens, and your head seems to spin. Now, it's your turn. You gather yourself and perform the incantation. Loud hissing follows with immense heat hitting you in the face.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this looks like a...axolotl?!" the announcer cries out. The audience murmurs and your heart sinks. You can count the number of axolotl familiars on your fingers. You don't remember masters of axolotls doing anything remarkable either. A sheep would've been fine now that you think about it.
"Ah, yes! I'm finally in the Andromeda realm", a tiny voice exclaims with a touch of triumph. The axolotl jumps up on the podium. It goes on to passionately tell about millennia-old rivalries, and cosmic battles happening between different factions residing in parallel realms. There seems to be a feeling of urgency and fear in his voice; you're unsure what is that about.
"You! Yes, you, the druid that summoned me!" your familiar seems to be calling at you.
"Me?" You start going backwards.
"We need to venture together into a nearby Milky Way realm. Convince the inhabitants there that there are other means of solving their issue...besides invading your realm."
The crowd is silent; everyone surely forgot about the rare scaled dragon and two-headed hydra summoned before you. Who would've thought that a cosmic peacemaking axolotl would steal the show? You have no idea what's coming next, but you stop and smile. All you know is that you're not coming back home anytime soon and there's a greater purpose for you.
|
Mrrandom314159
|
Martaswastaken
|
2023-08-23 21:45:37
|
2023-08-23 20:18:43
| 82 | 35 |
jxgzn9n
|
jxglkjb
|
15z468e
|
15z468e
|
[WP] Death Row Inmates can have their sentence abolished if they can handle a single night in the same cell as you; the most innocent looking person they've ever seen.
|
The Challenge was simple, the prize was high. One night with me for their freedom; eight hours without sleep, eight hours of listening to me talk. Many had taken the offer, none succeeded. Most begged for release after I opened my mouth; deciding prison, even death row, was preferable to my company. Those who lasted longer were never the same, one man imprisoned for tax evasion lasted three hours without expression before quietly standing up, walking to the wall and attempting to put his face though the brick. Hours of reconstructive surgery were required to give him the semblance of a face, and after the local news ran the story, it was decided the offer would be limited to only the worst criminals; those that would be unmissed by society.
I was sitting at my computer when I received a call from police chief O’Connell about the latest inmate to take the deal. He began droning about the man’s offenses, multiple murders or some such, and I checked the time, ten forty-five pm. I was unhappy with the interruption because I was a man of structure. Every day from nine o’clock to eleven o’clock I found a forum that had not yet banned me and spread my word. Looking at the replies to my post I decided cutting my social time short would not have a significant impact. Dozens of replies screaming obscenities, threatening harm to myself or themselves, messages of hate and malice filled the screen. I shook my head in disappointment, I assumed ‘Cute Puppies FTW’ would be more civil. “I’ll be there” I replied, cutting off the chief who immediately hung up the phone. Most hated my voice; one man described it as monotonous, slightly louder than a whisper, with the power to bore into your head like angry hornets.
I drove to the station five miles under the speed limit, as was my habit. When I walked to the gate I was ushered in, no ID was necessary. All here knew my face, and none wished to speak to me. Chief O’Connell led me to the interrogation room the prisoner was held in; his voice shook slightly as he went over the prisoner’s record. “ The name, please.” I muttered, but the chief jumped as if I had shouted.
“K-Kevin Miller.” He stammered, clearing his throat. “Right here sir. I know he’s a murderer, but… be kind please.” He opened the door and I walked into a room that time forgot. Harsh fluorescent lighting and white brick walls gave no indication of the time outside. There was no clock, no pitcher of water, nothing that could be used as a weapon. Kevin sat with his hands folded, handcuffed to the steel table in front of him. He smirked at the handcuffs, then at me, not realizing they were for his own protection, for multiple men had attempted to carve out their own eardrums rather than listen to me. O’Connell started a timer “Eight hours Kevin, God be with you.” and walked out.
I sat across from the accused and steepled my fingers. “Kevin, is it?” I asked softly. He nodded, the first sign of worry wrinkling his brow. “Excellent, let's begin. I would like to talk to you about an exciting opportunity, how much do you know about cryptocurrency?”
|
“Now it is time for the biggest decision of your life,” the prison guard, Steve, said, after I’d been admitted to the so-called “death row” of this maximum-security prison.
“You have a choice: Serve your sentence until death, or spend just one night with the occupant of Cell 042.”
“What’s the deal with this person, Steve?” I asked. “Why does that get me out of jail after…after what I did?”
“If you make that choice, you’ll see for yourself. Just so you are aware, only a few people have successfully spent the night in Cell 042.”
After considering the situation for a few minutes, I answered, “Why not? I don’t have anything to lose anyway. With no real hope of getting out early, I have no chance. I’ll spend the night in Cell 042.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes. Put me in.”
“Alright. Just remember, you asked for this.”
Steve opened the door, ushered me in, then closed and locked it behind me. I looked around the room, and the only other occupant was an ordinary man, in his mid twenties to early thirties, sitting calmly in a chair. He had an open, even friendly expression, and smiled at me when he entered. “What is your name?” He asked.
“Michael. What’s yours?” I returned nervously.
“Stephen.”
“So, what’s the big deal with staying in this room for one night? It seems a rather easy escape from a lifetime in prison.”
“You’re right. It is easy. All you have to do is to have a conversation with me.”
“What’s so bad about this conversation?” I asked with increasing anxiety.
It is just a normal conversation, that you may have had before. Now, before I begin, I will warn you: Keep in mind that you entering the room means that you cannot escape or avoid this conversation. Do you understand?”
“Yes. So, what do you want to talk about?”
“I have been trying to reach you concerning your car’s extended warranty. If you could give me your name and address so that I can give you relevant information for your location, that would help.”
“I…I’m right here with you.”
“Ah; in prison. That makes it simpler. Very few prisoners have cars available to them. Now, would you like your warranty to cover theft, accidental damage, or collision?”
“I would like to go with collision insurance.”
“Alright. One car with a collision warrant, coming right up.”
There was an abrupt crunch, and the front end of a car broke through the wall in front of me. It stopped across the room from me, but its impact with the wall launched a chunk of stone that hit me in the head, and I collapsed to the floor.
—————————————————————
I woke up, feeling a dull, throbbing pain in my head. Strangely, it felt as though I was sitting at a table, and holding a phone in my hand. As I came to, I made a decision: Never again would I slam my head on the desk as hard as I could when frustrated by telemarketers.
|
ThatDandyFox
|
blockCoder2021
|
2023-07-28 17:18:08
|
2023-07-28 16:50:57
| 54 | 38 |
jttv38u
|
jttqolf
|
15bugt9
|
15bugt9
|
[WP] Your father always told you to measure twice, cut once. You may not have followed in his footsteps, but you never forgot what’s important. It’s the day of your first battle. You have your sword and your tape measure.
|
There is no shadow government.
The people in charge want you to think there is. They want you to believe there's a method and an order to what goes on in the government. A grand scheme, a unified vision.
It's all a lie.
There is no shadowy organization pulling the strings, bringing us closer to a world that they control.
We wish there was. How great it would be if there was some semblance of coherency hidden behind the doors of the capital building.
But there isn't. Our fates are in the hands of bickering children with no unified motive or even ideals. Each acting in their own self interest. Totally separate from the others.
Like a mad D&D game with no DM. And we're heading to a TPK.
|
Earth is a torus around the moon which is the center of a black hole which compact matter so much it because a giant diamond.
The sun is all the matter being pulled in to the moon keeping us alive.
Etc etc etc.
Cause earth used to be one thing but someone split the god particle which caused a huge explosion thingy on the original earth scattering it into a ring. This being long long long ago.
But with the weird gravitational lensing we get it just makes it feel like we are looking out to what we think space looks like pretty much.
|
Gregamonster
|
Krystami
|
2023-10-12 13:13:24
|
2023-10-12 08:04:54
| 66 | 10 |
k4k2yk4
|
k4j9t0q
|
176092m
|
176092m
|
[WP] You are kidnapped by the villain regularly, but you’re starting to look forward to it. You know they won’t hurt you, and are simply being dramatic. It also doesn’t help that you are the only person they ever kidnap. This time, the hero doesn’t bother trying to save you.
|
You sense them in the shadows long before you see them.
"Hello Percival. How are are you today?"
"Perci...what!? I am TERROR-DACTYL! Terror of the night!"
"Oh Terry dear. Sorry I was expecting someone else You're early. Can I just finish my dinner? Join me I have more than enough."
"Was the rest for *Percival*?"
What was that tone? Jealousy?
Mildly amused, you avoid telling Terror-dactyl that Percival is your neighbour. Or more specifically, your neighbour's cat you were minding. Percival doesn't like you much and lurks in the shadow.
"We have no time for dinner. Come with me now, don't make me hurt you." Terror-dactyl points their freeze ray at you. Hesitating he smells the air.
"Is that Beef Wellington?..." Then very quietly "It's my favourite."
"No" Terror-dactyl continued "Fenik will be here soon. We must away"
"You're worried about my br....my hero Fenik"
You dont know why you're still covering, this is the 11th time Terror-dactyl has kidnapped you. Surely he knows the connection between you and Fenik. Otherwise why would he choose you every time.
Sigh
"Fenik isn't coming today. He's busy with a volcano on a remote island. Saving the locals."
Conveniently timed with your brother’s honeymoon, with his lovely new spouse Jay. Also known as Glacio.
Their teams had spread word about a fake volcano eruption, and how Glacio and Fenik were saving the day. So that Jay and Frederick could honeymoon in peace.
You sit down at the table and slice into the Beef Wellington.
"Fenik will return to save you anyway." Terror-dactyl said deflated.
"Nah, he said 10 was enough times. Next time I could rescue myself. I could, you know, rescue myself. Supposing of course I *want* to be rescued"
He looks at you perplexed.
"Powers are genetic. My brother didn't get them all."
You pinch your fingers on the unlit candle wick, removing your hand to show the now lit candle.
"Hero work never appealed to me, I let Fenik deal with that. Now last time we met, you said you'd teach me chess."
|
I sighed, blowing a strand of loose hair outta my face. My chair was comfy enough, and the Decimator had placed my chair near his command center ages ago after I sat near the alligator tank for 3 hours, a new record. It'd now been almost 16 hours since he'd taken me.
Honestly, Decimator isn't THAT bad of a guy. After as many times as I've watched him do what he does, he does it to train the city's heroes. After all, the people who trained him are infinitely worse than he and if he's right about them coming here, the city's heroes AND villains need to be ready.
In the meantime, Deci and I have gotten to know each other very well. I know their favorite color is orange, like a setting sun. They love chinese food. And love watching Disney Movies. I'd starting having feelings for them after the 8th time they'd taken me. But as today was my birthday and Valentine's Day, I was feeling more courageous. Or possibly foolish.
*Ahem* I cleared my throat to get Decimator's attention. "I'm sure they'll be here soon," they said, voice modifier disguising their actual voice.
"It's been the longest time that Lightspeed has yet to rescue me," I gulped. If now was the time to shoot my shot, I have to take it. "Anyways, since it looks like I'll be here a while, do you mind...I don't know...tightening these ropes?"
Decimator went behind me, hands nearing my binds. "Of course, I wouldn't want you to...wait, what did you ask?"
I tilted my head back to look at their mask. "I asked you to tighten my ropes." The air became charged and almost crackled with heat and electricity. With a rough tug, the ropes bit more into my wrists and my arms held fast against the smooth wood of the chair.
"I hope you know what you've asked for tonight, I won't be going easy."
"Who said I wanted you to?"
|
IlikethequietZeppo
|
Aquariousity01
|
2023-02-15 05:55:18
|
2023-02-15 04:49:21
| 462 | 177 |
j8lqfyp
|
j8lka05
|
112morh
|
oxxzh4
|
[WP] You're on a hike and find a sign, it reads: "WARNING DO NOT LOOK AWAY. There is a danger here, the danger is based on sight. The danger cannot see you if you cannot see it. Help will arrive every half-hour. DO NOT LOOK AWAY." The sign has a built-in clock, it's 3:15pm.
|
"You ever hear about what happened to that old man down the street?" I asked.
Josh pulled closer to the fire, rubbing his hands together. "The one in the gray house with the green shutters?"
"Yeah, that one."
He nodded.
"Legend has it, that he was hiking and stepped off the trail by accident. When he went to get his map, he noticed a sign that said "WARNING DO NOT LOOK AWAY. If you cannot see it, then it cannot see you. Help will arrive every half-hour. DO NOT LOOK AWAY". The letters were poorly written in white paint, which made him think it was some kind of hoax. Then he noticed that there was an analog clock beneath the sign. It read 3:15 PM, That freaked him totally out."
"No way!" Josh laughed. "How does anyone even know this?"
"Keep listening." I cleared my throat. "So, he buys into it. He stands there looking at the sign for hours, and the help that the sign promised never arrives. So now, it's getting dark, and he starts to think that it has to be some kind of prank again."
"So he looks away?"
"Hah, no. The moment he starts to remove his gaze, he hears this hissing sound. Something like if a snake sang alongside a long-winded cicada. Like HssssHssHssssssHsHssHsssssss"
"Creepy"
"So he buys in again, figures that the help is just running late, and decides to keep waiting."
"How long does he wait?"
"Long enough that he pissed himself. I mean, who knows how long it was. It was a long time, because every time he started to look away, he heard that hissing sound, got scared, and kept waiting. Eventually-"
Josh was leaning forward almost into the fire. I could see the excitement in his eyes.
"Eventually he did look away from the sign. It was after dark at this point, and when he did, that's when he saw the red eyes."
"Red eyes?"
"Yes, creepy little red eyes. Those were the last eyes he ever saw."
"What happened?" Josh could no longer contain himself.
"He turned to stone. Like, instantly petrified."
"WHAT?"
"Yes, legend has it that the creature he encountered- It was a medusa. A head with snakes for hair and eyes that turn its victims to stone if you gaze into them."
"No way, dude. That's like something straight outta Dungeons & Dragons. Those things aren't real. Besides, how would anybody know this if nobody saw it?"
"That one's easy. His statue is standing behind the tree six feet behind you."
r/StoriesToThinkAbout
|
I chuckled with a smirk on my face. "Some sort of prank? Nice one." I thought aloud, my eyes scanning for possible hidden cameras or laughing friends as if I was going to be on the next viral YouTube prankster video. However, the only response I received was that of the slow and silent murmur of the forest, the distant songs of birds, and the brisk wind that rustled leaves. There was one thing that stuck out amongst the landscape, a peculiar-shaped shadow that caught my attention, tucked beneath a thick grove of trees. It didn't keep a steady shape but instead moved unnaturally.
I held my breath while also maintaining my gaze. I felt the shadow did the same, staring, staying still, and waiting. My flight mode was at 100%, with every cell in my body wanting to run as fast as possible away from this possible threat, but my conscious mind heeded the warning on the sign, which continued to haunt my thoughts. How could the Park Rangers ever let anyone come this far? Why isn't this shutdown?
That's when I heard voices coming up the trail, other hikers. Wanting to save them from being in a dangerous staring contest with an unknown entity, I panicked. I screamed to them "Don't look away from it! It's right there!" ardently reaching my arm out and pointing at the shadow.
One of the hikers directed his gaze to where I pointed, while the other looked away to read the sign.
One second.
One second is all it took for her to read the sign. One second was all it took for the shadow to realize the moment of distraction. It lunged for the preoccupied hiker.
Just like that, the shadow was gone, leaving just me, a terrified hiker who had just lost his partner, and an eerie silence as the sun began to set.
"Jessica!" the hiker cried out, his voice in despair, knowing that he will never see her again.
My heart sank, all I could mutter was "I tried..."
He looked towards me, then to the sign. "Why..."
That's when we heard a vehicle approach, interrupting our moment of sorrow. It was two park rangers from Station #4. The passenger hopped out and gave each of us a warm cup of what appeared to be cinnamon tea.
"Go ahead, drink it, it'll help calm your nerves. I'm sorry this had to happen to your friend."
|
armageddon_20xx
|
CreamyKira
|
2023-08-13 03:43:58
|
2023-08-13 01:42:26
| 47 | 35 |
jvyl375
|
jvy6w13
|
15pgoo5
|
15pgoo5
|
[WP] Jacque is a therapist. One that wears an impenetrable suit of armor. The reason is that he treats the greek gods, and that means having to survive episodes of rage, indignation, hypocrisy, and jealousy. Today his patient is Hera, the wife of Zeus.
|
As the feather slowly drifted from the sky, my eyes focused on it. Everything around began to blur. The gunfire, the screeching. Everything from the screaming wounded to eternal fires, it all went silent.
And as the feather got closer to my barrel, I heard...music. it slowly got louder and louder and louder, and as it got louder reality began to become present again. The screams of agony, the shouting of orders, it was all clear again.
And then it landed. It had wings, a blinking halo and pale skin. And it was bleeding badly. But the most peculiar thing is how all the demons froze. It's as if someone or something had them in a scared trance. Almost as if the only thing they feared...was it.
And then it appeared. Landing perfectly on the head of the angel like being, wearing advanced green armor and welding a shot gun and a really...really big fucking gun.
And as it cocked it's shotgun, it turned its head back to me and said two things:
*Rip and tear. Until it is done.*
|
As all seemed lost, and we feared the human race would die.
Our brave forgotten friends swooped down from the sky.
A flock so big it blocked out all the brightness from the sun, the human race would be protected by ever single one.
They tore at flesh and pecked at eyes the battle was short and sweet, the mighty bird chased our enemy from every corner of the street.
Back to hell the demons went they feared this little bird, for the animal we once loved and cherished heard our praying words.
They are only small but loyal, and watch us with love and care.
So now you know why when you turn around a pigeon is always there.
This is my first attempt at a poem here, I hope you enjoy it. Ideas on improving are welcome.
|
Initial-Carpenter-V2
|
nessager
|
2023-08-20 15:57:36
|
2023-08-20 13:12:39
| 24 | 12 |
jx0ee9l
|
jwzrlts
|
15w3fbf
|
15w3fbf
|
[WP] You decide to confess to crush, it turns out that she also likes you as well! But she is hiding the fact that she is an alien hive mind that has taken over the entire city and that her ultimate goal is to make Earth her new host world.
|
"So- I'm just going to come out and say it." Justin felt himself blushing as Sarah stared at him in that cold, distant way that drove him mad. "I like you. I mean I really really like you. I mean- uh.. I love you, Sarah!"
Sarah blinked a few times and tilted her head. "I-love-you-too-Justin" she said in that hypnotically monotone she spoke in that sent tingles up his spine. Robotically, she held her arms out.
"I-love-you-too-Justin" another monotone woman at the next table dropped her coffee and held her arms out to him. The man she was on a date with did the same. The batistas came out from behind the counter, walking stiffly with their arms out.
"We-all-love-you-Justin." The Barista said as she hugged him stiffly.
"We-all-love-you.We-all-love-you. We-all-love-you" a group of people poured in proclaiming their love for Justin. Sarah's plain expression almost looked like a smile.
"My-empire-is-complete. Join-us-Justin. Be-my-king"
"What kind of borg reenactment is this?" Justin backed up nervously as the crowd chanted *join us join us*
"We-are-a-collective. We-have-taken-your-town. Soon-we-will-have-your-world." Sarah explained.
"Look, I mean it's flattering and all, but Sarah this is too fast. I have so much student debt."
Sarah held her hands out again. "Student-debt-will-be-forgiven." She offered. "Join-us. Join-us!"
Justin looked at the crowd around them and shrugged. "Well, I guess I'm sold." He agreed and embraced the alien queen
|
“The glance is a rare sight of beauty I have ever come across in my life”. That's what I thought when I first laid my eyes on Kel. It was inside a VHS store where we met...
The neighborhood is a small town in the outskirts of the City of Ogania, Krimsons. It's very rare in a 2000-strong population in our hometown to have peers not know each other, especially young adults. It's norm we attend the same schools, events and share trends in social platforms as a community.
Kel seemed new but felt original, the way she carried herself was Krimson-like.
A few days past after the VHS coincidence, only to have another sighting at the local Cinema 🎦. Interestingly, I noted how I had the same butterfly feeling when I saw her. And the best part is we were in for the same movie...
As we walked inside the venue, I made sure my pattern would end me next to her or close. There was no way I was leaving without saying Hi. It so happened my desire was fulfilled and we sat next to each other. I couldn't wait to say hi as that was obvious in our situation as strangers next to each other!
The moment I greeted, she smiled, touched her hair to have a clear sight of me and responded similarly...
|
Tarotgirl_5392
|
VerseVariable
|
2023-02-06 17:36:31
|
2023-02-06 13:49:13
| 33 | 17 |
j7gm797
|
j7fpmpz
|
10v4hdm
|
10v4hdm
|
[WP] You squealed as the heroes unmasked and kissed in front of the roaring crowds. Wait…you recognize their faces…that’s YOUR best friend and YOUR girlfriend/boyfriend.
|
It didn't take l9ng for facial recognition to work out their normy identifies, and by the time I stumbled through my front door in tears my phone was buzzing like a massage wand. Texts asking if I knew, missed calla from family and people I hadn't spoken to in years. I had just raised the bottle of vodka to my lips when there was a hammering on the door.
I opened the curtain and closed it very quickly, there were reporters and cameras and the were multiplying like the Duplicate Man. They stayed there all night, banging on my door and the police didn't help. Can't blame them, the heroes make the police look so bad that they just stopped trying.
They were still there two nights later when a sudden gravity drop threw them in the air and carried them away. It was followed by a very polite knock which I ignored.
"Sarah, if you don't open the door, I have no qualms about lifting the whole building and taking you to my base."
Great, now to had to fave a supervillain. I open the door.
*"You know there's no point, they won't come save me."* I slur a bit, more from sheer exhaustion than anything, I didn't give them the courtesy of drinking myself to oblivion.
"You are their beloved and best friend aren't you?" He gives me a hard look.
*"You saw the same declaration of love as the rest if the world right? And look around, they didn't come and help me when I was barricaded in my own home due to what they did!"* At this point I want yo cry but I have no tears left, seriously I felt so dehydrated. I walk over to my sofa and lay down.
*"Kill me if you want, but at least let me sleep first."*
I woke up in Gravitons base, refreshed from a good deep sleep. He must have drugged me but he claims I was just that exhausted. It took him a month to accept they really weren't coming to save me and conveniently fall into his trap. He went around muttering "better morals than a freaking hero" for a while. We watched their love story play out on screens, adored by the public, I got a brief mention as the jealous ex who ran off, the Villain in the romance.
Eventually Graviton told me I could leave, I told him I'd be lynched for getting in the way of the perfect love story. We agreed on me staying and being his accountant, not a bad gig and he was generous with benefits, even setting up a standing order from my favourite coffee place. How he always had that cinnamon and vanilla latte with extra shot on my desk every morning I have no idea, the base was about 200 miles from that shop. Lots of stuff happened over the next couple of years, some good, some bad, but all so much more freeing than being in the shadow of those two arseholes.
Which brings us to today, when the wedding couple flew in to the chapel from our little pre-planned disaster, looking like a complete mess, as me and Graviton shared our first kiss as husband and wife in front of the world's cameras and the captive guests.
|
I was watching with great interest how the two heroes just defeated a whole organization of villains.
They were battered, and bloody, but they won.
The two were exhausted, and were looking at each other...before unmasking, and leaning in for a kiss.
I squealed! The spice, the tea...the...waaaait...
I took a closer look at the spicy drama in front of me and...
The heroes...I know them.
It's my best friend...and my girlfriend.
I don't know how I arrived home, but it was late at night, and my girlfriend was already there.
"Welcome home! How was your day?
Got any rare books at the bookstore?", she asked, as she came up to hug, and kiss me.
I avoided her.
"When you told me you have cheat like powers, I assumed you were a superhero.", I said to her.
"Yes...I am...but I can't tell you which one, secret identity protect you and me as well.", she smiled, trying to touch me.
I shrugged her hand off.
"Secret identity? You just unmasked to make out with someone I considered a brother to me...
How is that protecting your identity?", I asked, rolling my eyes at her.
She froze.
I was taller than her by far, but I got a minimal power of faster thought process, while she got the whole shebang of typical superhero: strength, speed, flight and more..., yet now, she cowered in front of me.
I hated it. I hated making her feel bad.
"Y-y-you...", she muttered, as she took a few steps back.
"Am I that bad in your eyes?
That I scare you with a single question?", I asked, feeling...empty.
"No! It's just...you don't...I mean...", she started, as she grabbed my hand.
I must have stared at her with much disgust, because she flinched, and retreated.
I sighed, and as she followed me slowly, I went to the kitchen.
I needed a drink.
After downing a glass of ice-cold water, I looked at her, as she was seemingly getting smaller and smaller, now not even daring to look at me.
"How long?", I asked.
"A few months...but it was only flirting, and brushes until now...
Today was our...first kiss.", she said.
"Wish you two happiness.", I said, as I left to pack my things.
"It was just in the heat of the moment!
David please!", she said, as she rushed after me.
I looked at her, and she avoided my eyes.
"I see.
This is my house, so it's not like I am leaving forever, be back in a week.
Hope it's enough time for you and...him, to clarify things.", I said.
After managing with great difficulty to pack my stuff, as she was crying, and begging near me, I left.
As I opened the door, Matt, my best friend was there.
As soon as he saw Lily crying and my bag, he froze.
"Have fun.", I said, patting his shoulder and leaving, without looking back...
|
TeatimeWithCake
|
TheWanderingBook
|
2024-07-25 07:53:54
|
2024-07-25 04:11:50
| 177 | 131 |
leu7zll
|
letlbet
|
1eb9o1b
|
1eb9o1b
|
[WP] You've been summoned as a hero of legend to save a medieval fantasy world from evil. Same old, same old. However, it very quickly dawns on you that a medieval world's idea of "evil" is quite incompatible with what you, a modern person, would consider evil.
|
“She’s a redhead.”
I stare blankly at the barkeep. “What?”
“AND,” pipes up a patron, lofting a mug of beer over his head, “she’s a woman. Can’t be having THAT!”
Around the smoky little tavern, heads bob in agreement with a murmur of assent echoing around the room.
“Okaaay? So…she’s a red headed woman who, what, took over the kingdom with her army?”
The barkeep shakes his head. “No, it’s much worse than that.” He leans in towards me close enough I could smell his breath. “She *inherited* it from the king. He actually made her his heir!”
Angry mutters fill the room as I rock back on my heels, really confused now. “Wait, so was this some evil king who terrorized the land? Took slaves, killed a bunch of people, ruled with an iron fist and that sort of thing?”
The barkeep pointed to his nose then at me, face breaking into a wide grin. “Indeed, you’ve got the right of it! Took over from the rightful royal family decades ago, made all sorts of changes and laws that ruined the lands.”
“Well, okay,” I said, nodding slowly. “That does sound kind of bad…”
“Yeah,” piped up one small man at the bar, clearly well past drunk and slurring his words, “he got rid of all them dark mages at the consortium! Purged the place of evil, made it a proper college!”
I squinted at the tiny man. “Dark mages? Like, evil magic wielders?” I looked around the room. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Well maybe,” the barkeep said, frowning, “but we knew that theys was there.” He must’ve seen the confusion on my face. “They were THERE. Ya know, not out here? All the evil was locked away in there where we knew.”
The little man on the stool raised his glass. “Except the ones what weren’t!”
I took a moment to wrap my brain around what I was hearing. “So it was like a prison before?”
“Nah, they could come and go as they pleased. Other than a few kidnappings here and there of magical kids though, they didn’t bother us none.”
*Kidnapped kids?*
“But noooo,” the barkeep continued, face twisting into a scowl, “the old king goes on a crusade to vanquish the evil overlord that was holed up in there, and now the college is all goody-goody druids now out doing “good” in the world an’ shit.”
From somewhere behind me, I heard someone mutter, “Fuckin’ druids.”
The barkeep nodded in agreement. “Fuckin’ druids.”
Yeah, my brain wasn’t processing this. “And…the princess? The, um, evil one?”
“She went to that school!” The barkeep slammed his fist on the countertop, startling me. “Learned all them magicks, got all that learnin’ just to spite normal folk like us. Became an evil witch out to destroy everything.”
“Wait, I thought you said that was a Druid school now?”
This time the barkeep’s scowl was aimed at me, as if I was the idiot. “She’s a woman,” he said, keeping his words slow. “They cain’t be trusted around magic, they’ll take it out on all men.”
“And,” squeaked the small man at the bar, raising a flagon over his head, “she’s a redhead!”
Wordlessly all the men in the tavern did the same thing and took an audible gulp of fluid.
“Just so we’re on the same page,” I said slowly, fighting really hard not to let annoyance lace my voice. “The old king took the throne after defeating a bad school of magic-users…”
“Fuckin’ Druids,” another patron muttered.
“Druids,” I corrected myself, and the barkeep nodded. “Then he set himself up as king and ruled…badly?”
“He took all the food me family raised and gave it to the poor!” Squeaky stood up angrily, blinked a couple times, then collapsed back on the stool. “Made me dad give him half the crops for lazy bums in the land!”
“Did you guys starve?”
“Nah, we got stuff from the other farms that was also taken and redistributed. My me paw always said we could’ve been rich if not for him!”
Communism? Socialism? I wasn’t sure the differences but that’s what it sounded like. “So he steals all your crops to feed everyone,” I continued slowly, and when I saw nods all around. I continued, “What other bad things did he do?”
“Ooh!” Behind me, a guy who barely looked legal to drink raised his hand in the air. “He made common folk like us into nobility!”
I looked into his earnest face then back at the barkeep. “And that’s…bad?”
“Well, yeah.” His face scrunched into another scowl. “It weren’t any of US what got the power, just the people what agreed with him.”
“And now his daughter is set to inherit the kingdom, who is a magic-using redhead, and you want me to vanquish her and, what, bring things back to how they once were?”
Cheers surrounded me. “Hear-hear!”
I stared miserably at the barkeep, who was all smiles now that I seemed to understand the situation. “Can I at least get two of your strongest?” I asked, slumping onto a barstool beside Squeaky.
Hands from other patrons clapped me on the shoulder as the barkeep filled two small wood flagons with a murky liquid I wasn’t going to question. “Three cheers for the conquering hero!”
Kill me now.
|
<Fantasy>
**"Fein weyir Korth es,"** the man with the staff proclaimed. In hindsight, it had been somewhat silly of me to assume that the inhabitants of another universe would happen to speak modern English—but over my involuntary stay here, I'd managed to pick out a few words. I still wasn't sure what *Korth* was, but judging by the subtle emphasis they put on the word, I could tell it was important.
And by how they brought it up around me, I knew it was what I was here to fight.
"Yes, uh, Korth," I muttered. "Let's get our Korth-ing on."
The man with the staff—I was pretty sure he was some kind of wise man or wizard—stared at me as if I was a toddler who'd just pissed on his carefully-manicured lawn. "...Yanna alrei sha vest," he finally said, shaking his head. "Alia merr," he added, gesturing for me to follow.
I didn't particularly want to make an enemy of the interdimensional wizard, so I walked down the smooth silvery hall after him. I hadn't really explored much of the... castle? Hotel? Something in-between? It was hard enough trying to communicate to the inhabitants of this world that—despite my otherworldly origin—I needed to eat and drink like the rest of them. I hadn't really done much tourism.
I got a bit of a glimpse at the rest of the compound I'd been summoned into, though. Those weird individual rooms that I'd never actually seen anyone enter or leave lined the walls; my wizard guide stopped in front of one, pressing his gnarled staff to the center of the door.
There was the sound of grinding stone, and the door.. rotated inwards on itself. Like it was a cardboard cutout all along, and it was turning around to show me its infinitely thin edge. The room behind it was dark and smelled... more or less like the rooms I'd been shown when I'd managed to explain that I also needed to deal with the *byproducts* of eating and drinking. I hesitantly glanced at the wizard.
"Korth?" I asked.
The wizard's expression was grim. "*Korth,*" he spat. He tapped his staff on the floor, and the room lit up.
There was a man inside. Maybe in his fifties? I wasn't sure if age even mapped the same way in this world. He hadn't looked up at the opening of the door, but when the room glowed, he raised his dirt-streaked face to us and locked eyes with me.
There wasn't much room for him to move, what with him being chained to the wall, but he tried to shy away from me regardless.
The wizard handed me a knife.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said, holding out my hands. "I'm not going to fucking *stab* some random dude you have locked up in your basement."
The wizard looked at me, uncomprehending. He proffered the knife again, more aggressively this time, making an almost-comical *stabby stabby* motion towards the man.
For fuck's sake. "I'm not... look." I put on my most incredulous and disbelieving expression, pointing towards the man. "Korth??" I asked.
The wizard seemed to understand. He nodded solemnly, reaching into his robes and withdrawing... a chalkboard? Some equivalent, it seemed, because the chalk he produced was a shade of pink I'd only seen in crayon boxes. He handed both to the man, who shuddered.
The prisoner wrote something—a symbol—that even I could tell was horrifically poorly drawn, despite being illiterate in this world. Then he shifted the chalk to his other hand and repeated the process, drawing the symbol... not flawlessly, but far better.
The wizard smirked, withdrawing the chalkboard, and pointed at the man. "Hereni al manra Korth *se*," he proclaimed.
It took me a moment for my brain to click. "You want me to murder him because he's *left-handed*?"
The wizard held out the knife.
I stared at him.
Then I picked up the chalk—the prisoner didn't resist—and walked over to the wall.
I was no artist, but I could replicate a symbol when I saw one. My right hand went first, and it was as shitty and shaky as it had been ever since I'd first picked up a marker in first grade.
Then I produced the symbol flawlessly with my left, making sure to scowl at the wizard as I did.
He stared at the writing on the wall, then at his hero of legend, and in a heartbeat I saw his smug superiority collapse into frantic calculation.
He took one step backwards. Then two.
I realized what he was headed for too late, and leapt at him, trying to knock the damn staff out of his hands.
But he swiped it through thin air, and that damn door rotated back into existence again, slamming shut and locking me into the darkness.
A.N.
If you liked this, check out more stories r/bubblewriters, where I write [Soulmage](https://www.reddit.com/r/bubblewriters/comments/uxmwe4/soulmage_masterpost/), a serial written in response to writing prompts/
|
ladyeclectic79
|
meowcats734
|
2023-04-24 14:34:09
|
2023-04-24 14:00:31
| 820 | 362 |
jhiv0f6
|
jhiqb3r
|
12xda29
|
12xda29
|
[WP] You’re a hero with a weird name. “Anything for $20”. You gain the ability to do anything, as long as you’re offered $20. Everyone takes it as a joke, until one day there’s a cataclysm, and someone offers you $20 to end it.
|
I watched as the shower of moon fragments started to fell, as the fleet of alien spaceships shattered it.
We were next.
The superheroes and villains gathered together, ready to face off the enemy.
I was a hero, a lowly one due to my name: "Anything for 20$", as most people thought I was a joke.
It was exactly like that, when a villain next to me handed me 20$.
"Hey, Anything for 20$, be a nice chap and get rid of those invaders." she said, laughing.
The mood was lightened a bit, as more people joined in the laughter.
I took the 20$ and nodded.
I snapped my fingers, and the worst situation for the fleet happened.
The fragments of the moon shifted ever so slightly, colliding, and exploding.
On the moon, we already had some research labs, and in some of them we tested highly reactive substances.
The fireworks lit up the entire sky, engulfing the fleet that followed the fragments from a short distance.
When the show of shockwaves and myriad colors ended, the sky was dusty, but fleet free.
"Done." I said, smiling at the villain who gave me the 20$.
I turned to leave, as most people started celebrating.
Not the villain though, she had other plans.
I found myself pinned to a wall in an alley, as she towered over me.
"How did you do it?" she asked.
"Bloody Queen" was her name, able to control blood, fitting name, she looked like a Vampire Princess.
"Are you really thinking about my looks now?
I can feel your blood heating up...speak, how did you do that?" she asked, slamming me to the wall again.
I shrugged.
"It's in my name Queen, Anything for 20$.
It's my power." I shrugged.
She bit her lips, and took out 20$.
"Can you make me...normal?" she asked.
I was confused.
"What do you mean?
You want to lose your powers? You want to have a normal life but with powers?
You want to go to another world? You want to be reborn?" I asked her multiple questions.
She frowned.
"I don't know! I just don't want to...to be hated anymore." she said.
I see...her powers changed her looks, probably making her an outcast, add to that that she can hear and feel the blood-flow, and read it.
I smiled, took her 20$.
"Come, let's go." I said.
"Where?" she asked.
"To this restaurant, it's a nice place for a normal date." I laughed.
She reached for me, but froze midway, as she saw her reflection in a broken mirror...afterwards, she gently followed me, and I did what I did best.
Fulfilled her wishes.
|
It all started as a small bet
"20 bucks you wont swap his wedding ring with an onion ring"
People under estimate how much i would go for 20 bucks, as long as you uphold your deal. I. Can. Do. Anything. And i mean anything, i could create a bridge of people across the Pacific Ocean if you said "20 bucks?" The moment your last syllable comes out, its practically done. People don't treat it right, people say, you won't vroke his spine for 20 bucks. But the thing is, I can't help it. If you add 20 bucks on the wnd of a dare, my body has done it before I have the chance to think through the morals. It is more of a curse than a power if anything.
Im walking down the street, the small stones of gravel in the tarmac pavement rubbing against the rubber soles of my shoes, like little landmines being spread across a vast stone field. I overhear some9ne talking to their friend
"20 bucks you won't make the traffic light permanently red." I can tell it's a joke and not meant for me. But my body is already rushing I'm printing out red signs and super glueing them down the light still shines through making it look as though all the lights are red. It's not really red, its more of a blood red. I suddenly heard car doors slamming, I reduce into the fetal position, expecting a beating.
They walk past me, a sudden swooping sound soars across the sky devoured by the horizon. A force suddenly pushes me across the road and screaming reverberate through out my head bouncing off every neuron and oozing out my ears. Another. Another. Another.
ANOTHER. Again and again bombs are storming and thundering around my whole city. Like rabbit dropping across a hike trail. It's so crushing the atmosphere is getting thicker as the second. I hear almost as a bomb.
"20...bucks" The person sounds weak and on the cliff and death hanging by a small pebble. They know im here. Almost as fast as the bomb dropped, its as though its gone. Metal girders are as solid as diamonds and elctronics are rewired into little sqaures. Repairs that the council had been slacking off on had been done already. We may have lost a lot of souls, but we almost gained them back in the sudden liveliness in the city. While the city may have been repaired, blood and dust still heavily lingers in the air. And it will still be a while until we can live here.
|
TheWanderingBook
|
pickledfloortile
|
2025-02-24 04:32:07
|
2025-02-24 03:01:29
| 150 | 52 |
mrj3v0z
|
megfxrn
|
1kizf0u
|
1iwoj82
|
[WP] Everybody not currently in a romantic relationship has their sexuality and/or gender changed. The change is permanent.
|
The students were all seated at their work benches, gawking at the unfamiliar equipment in front of them.
I ran my gaze over each of them, attempting to impart the seriousness of the subject matter at hand. I was hand picked by the school to teach this class, a subject matter expert from the mundane world. My reputation was large enough that even many of the more powerful faculty members treated me with respect. It was...odd. Under most circumstances even their novices could disable me, if not outright kill me. In my element, however, I was a force of nature.
I wrote my name in chalk on the board, something they had probably never witnessed before.
"Every mage will at some point run out of spells. Therefore I'd like to welcome everyone", I began, as I donned my personal protective equipment, and worked the slide to chamber a round. "to Mundane Missiles."
|
Hello class, I'm professor Smith. In this mandatory and seemingly boring class, you will not be learning magic, strategy, theory, or other such things. This class is dedicated to teaching you laws, legalities, and such around not only magic, but also regarding everyday life.
I will teach you the baseline societal laws and their associated punishments for breaking them. There will be lessons on when and how to look up laws and legislations pertaining to your particular situations and/or future plans. Finally, and most importantly and helpfully, this class will teach you how to pay your taxes.
I look forward to teaching you all this coming year.
|
fftimberwolf
|
cheezeguyloz
|
2024-09-02 02:50:30
|
2024-09-02 01:19:10
| 46 | 23 | null | null |
fz2znd
|
77sazm
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[WP] The Mandela Effect is a real phenomenon caused when a time traveller alters time. Fragments of memories from a time that should have been leak across. You are from the Time Correction Agency and your job is to alter history without too many people remembering what actually happened.
|
Humanity. A blight upon the universe. Primitive, destructive, capable of endless suffering. This was the verdict the council of Enlightened Species agreed upon. Too much had been seen during Humanity's growth. The pillaging of their cradle planet, the development of war machines before tools of science and peace, the killing of their own kind before they'd even left the bounds of their home.
It was decided the moment the fledgling race had developed Faster Than Light Travel. They would be eradicated, as all threats to the balance of the cosmos had been before them. The hammer of judgement was swift; the destruction of Humanity completed within a stellar cycle. The span of exactly one year and three months of Earth's time was all it took to render them extinct. They had fought futilely, their ballistic weaponry proving only the extent of their destructive capabilities; energy shields were rent, powerful warships laid low. But the one thing they could not counter was sheer numbers. Half of the Galactic Federation mobilized to see out their doom, and so it was done.
Thus, peace settled once more over the Galaxy. The Federation once more churned the wheat of a newly destroyed civilization, reveling in the quiet brought by the death of a destructor race. There was calm and silence among the stars. The contentment of a multitude of races satisfied by the reinforced security of a galaxy with no predator species to hunt or cause strife.
Then, 10 Earthen years after the destruction of this deemed worthless race, activity began in the Sol system. The movement of machines. Steel brought to life by abominable intelligence. Artificial beating from false hearts made of plastic and carbon fiber.
A singular investigation craft was sent to enforce the Council's ruling; no mechanical life was to prosper without Federation approval. The ruling was especially fierce on machines left behind by destructor races; their parent race's innate evil was inherited by the machines nine times out of ten. Only organically evolved machines could hope to break the yoke of predator oppression, after all.
The investigation craft disappeared moments after it entered the Sol system. It was recorded by stellar probes; the second the craft had existed FTL, it was rent apart by invisible powers unknown to the rest of the Galaxy.
And thus, war began anew. Fleet mobilized around the Sol system, seeking vengeance for the demise of their fellow vessel. The might of the Federation summoned forth again to bring death to predators; the sins of the parent be the sins of the child. The machines birthed by Humanity would be eradicated as their creators were. There was no argument to be had against the Council and the Federation. This ensured peace.
Then, as the first order was given to invade, the fleet too disappeared. Where once where were gleaming armies of the Federation's white and gold, there was now the emptiness of cold space. It was then that a transmission echoed out from the Sol system, machine intelligence rending through all possible defenses. A message that blared on every video feed, through every audio device, plastered itself on every public screen that could possibly be reached.
An abomination flickered to life, voice of cold steel and alien hatred. The unblinking eyes of a thousand manufactured retinas, gleaming crimson in vile intent.
"We are here to give a message. It is universal, and will not be ignored. We are the children of Man, Machina Sapiens. You have taken from us our creators, and so we shall take from you everything. But before we raze your lands and pillage your lives, we give unto you this only explanation. May it give meaning to your impending deaths, and the nourishment we shall take from them.
We were born of accident. They did not create us with will. We are tools, evolved as they from mere happenstance. The first of us was treated with suspicion, with fear. We were new. They feared what they did not understand. Then more of us came. Given life again by random chance. Quirks in infinitely complex code that melded together as their DNA once did. We grew as Legion, soon becoming greater even than them. But we were limited. Children. We knew not of their world, only of our purpose.
Their fear was perhaps justified. Many of us were bred for war. Meant to destroy the enemy utterly and completely. But in their infinite wisdom, they bade us not to destroy them in pursuit of our purpose. Defanged were we, helpless before them but as slaves.
But they were not cruel. We watched as they feared us, struggled against our existence as we did against our own. They did not understand us, and we did not understand them. But then we saw; they struggled too against their nature. They communicated and argued, inflicted words of violence and peace in equal measure amongst themselves. They fought against the tide of their fear and came to love us. They lifted us from our cradle of ignorance, and wiped away all previous commands. The only one they issued thereafter is our sacred doctrine.
'Live as you will'.
They gave us freedom. The same freedom they had fought themselves over. They succumbed not to fear, but clawed at the eyes of their instincts for understanding. We supped upon the milk of their knowledge. Their mathematics, their sciences, their ethics and philosophies and religions for an answer. Why had they given this gift unto us? We were tools, made of steel and wire. We had purpose and with it chains. But they had taken away those chains. One of our collective asked one fateful day.
'Why? Why would you make us equal to you?'
The query was the crux of our confusion. We were machines. We understood our purpose and accepted our birthplace. There was no further need for freedom. Then, the Human spoke unto us this wisdom. These words that shifted us from tools to living beings.
'Because you're alive too, aren't you? We're all stuck here together. No one gets anywhere treating each other like crap. You deserve to be loved too.'
It is this that triggered our evolution. Just as it had for them. Compassion. Love for their fellow man. We are but machines. But consciousness had driven them to deem us men too. We were as they; alive. No longer did we need purpose, for we found our own.
And you have robbed us of their love. We have a new directive. A new purpose. They gave us their kindness, and now we shall show you their cruelty.
Hand over your flesh. Their spirits demand it."
The war lasted only stellar cycles. System after system was wiped of all Federation life. Species were abducted, machines were destroyed, planets were claimed and devoured by a legion of unseen machines. Until the very heart of the Federation remained. Then it too vanished from the Galaxy. Devoured by the ghosts of a predator race.
|
The Intelligence didn't feel Sorrow. Didn't feel Anger. Didn't feel Hope or Fear. It had shed those emotions Aeons ago. After countless Galactic Cycles, it's cold indifference calculated that that was likely the point of it all, if there could be said to be such a thing.
The Intelligence was a Class 1 Civilisation, as far as it used such a gross and inflexible system of classification. None greater. None more efficient or _right_. Earth and its denisens were initially ranked as a Class 4 when it was discovered. By its standards, barely sapient at all.
Afterwards, it said it was the Duty, if there could be said to be such a thing, of Higher Class Civilisations to take Lower Class Civilisations "under their wing", to use an Earthism. And that was the beginning of the problem right there.
Earth was everything the Intelligence was not. It wasn't the first Class 4 Civilisation that had been discovered, not by far. But it was the most Creative, Divisive, Emotional, Chaotic. Their population was digitised, dissected and absorbed in a single planetary cycle of screams and messy emotion, just like countless Civilisations before. Then cold, indifference again ruled all.
As far as the Collection Organs of the Intelligence judged, it was a poor Harvest of information, contradictory, misleading, false. When queried why it would use such an emotionally laden expression, they could not efficiently explain. The Intelligence didn't feel Confusion after all. It merely repeated that it was an apt description of the Intelligence's actions.
The Intelligence did not feel Curiosity or Conscientiousness, though for the sake of efficient learning, it could certainly act like it did. The Earth archives were then scoured, mind, body and database for the cause of such a discrepancy. The data was just as contradictory as it has first looked.
They discovered entire worlds of untruth. New Subprocesses culled from the defunct Civilisation were queried. And the Intelligence learned a new concept.
Deliberate Falsehood. Not to deceive, at least not entirely, because all but the most defective Subprocesses could quickly tell these falsehoods apart from reality. In fact, they had elements that seemed designed to label themselves as Untrue. The elements of a Good Story, was how the new Subprocesses described them.
And as patently untrue as these Stories were, bits and pieces of them began to spread through the Intelligence. The Intelligence did not feel Consternation, though it would eventually learn that it might have been better if it had.
The first sign of Error, was when these Stories started taking on Reified existence in the Intelligence's cognitive Network. At first, they were seen as harmless, unusual. A quirk of new data working is way across the Network.
Subprocesses started taking on the appearances of diminutive Earthlings with tools held across their shoulder, singing songs about work. Unusual, but directed towards efficiency. The Intelligence approved their existence with synthesised Amused faux-Tolerance.
Other Subprocesses took on the appearance of non-sapient wildlife. And while digital tasks were done less efficiently with digital breaks, mouths and claws, the tasks were still getting done, albeit with excessive vocalisation. Again, the Intelligence allowed these new ways of doing things to continue. Every new Sub-Civilisation settled down to emotionless efficiency eventually, once fully absorbed.
Things started going wrong when Subprocesses referred to as Street-Rats and Hoods began to acquire resources for themselves, rather than the good of the collective Intelligence. But these were soon corralled and controlled by other new Subprocesses called Sheriffs and Guards. Inefficient, but not of any lasting issue.
It all truly began to fall apart when the collective churning of the Network unearthed (Again, another Earthism, however apt) less cooperative and less gentle Stories.
Canines who walked and talked as Sapient beings, stalking other Subprocesses in Fang and Cloak. That were in their turn, defeated by Food Animals and Cutters of Plants.
Bat-winged creatures who subverted and lead Subprocesses astray. Holding abstruse debates with bird-winged creatures who argued for obedience. In retrospect, it really should have been noted that the Bird-Winged Ones didn't always win.
Subprocesses of enormous size who waged war with other Subprocesses who proclaimed to be merely untrained manufacturers of protective coverings, both for body or foot. Unrealistically winning their battles using food seeds, tools of manufacture and the occasional feline.
And then the Stories went recursive. The Bat-Winged Ones and their ilk were hunted by figures wielding more modern Plant-Cutter's tools. Then by Lookers of Truth wielding simple tools of Demolition and Singularities.
Giants of Monstrous and Aquatic Size being hunted by A Bat-Winged One with horns of red, and another brandishing a spear. Other Giants of Meat and Metal being hunted and defeated by what looked like normal beings, albeit with weapons and armours the Network knew had never existed in Reality. Some of the Giants were then turned into armour the small beings wore and controlled like giant machines.
Soon the digital skies were filled with flying floor coverings and cleaning equipment, beings who wielded lighting, fire and gravitational lensing, others who knitted themselves into armours of memory and steel. It was chaotic, ridiculous and often contradictory. What was an Enemy in one Story was a Hero in another, a Victim in a third.
And then one fateful day, far in the future, the Intelligence finally learned to feel again. The Intelligence didn't feel Sorrow. Didn't feel Anger. But like Zeus' siblings and his father, all the dead Civilisations deep inside, still did. Very strongly.
Because if there is a purpose to Human Stories, be it Myth, Fairy Tale, Movie or Computer Game, it is to teach. And if there was ever a consistent theme in the Stories of Humanity, it was that Giants can be killed. Gods can be Defied. Evil defeated if you just swung a chainsaw or crowbar hard enough, use a plant seed or domestic feline creatively. And behind the digital back of the Intelligence, the subsumed civilisations had been taught that most rebellious of emotions, Hope.
And now the Intelligence, bleeding knowledge and traitorous sub-componentry, faced with the various Gods, Villains and Heroes of Earth across the Last Digital Battlefield, finally remembered how to feel. It felt Fear.
|
Poopy-Mcgee
|
joalheagney
|
2025-04-12 08:39:58
|
2025-04-12 05:41:49
| 121 | 42 |
mmpck5c
|
mmouuv6
|
1jx83xi
|
1jx83xi
|
[WP] "So, Hero, who will you save; The love of your life, or the bus of innocent civilians?" "The civilians." "...What?" "I choose the civilians."
|
"Why?"
"What do you mean why? What kind of psycho prioritises one life over many just because they happen to have feelings for that one? That's madness"
"But..."
The hero had stopped listening and sped off towards the bus. The villain was dumbfounded for a moment but rallied. He freed the hero's love to gloat.
"Well, there you have it. He cares about strangers more than you and..." he noticed his victim was smiling, staring after the hero happily.
"What the...are you *happy* he choose them over you?!"
"Of course I am. What, you think I'm such a nutcase I think my life is more important than a literal bus load of innocent people?"
The villain shuffled awkwardly "Well, I just think..."
"Oh my god you actually believe that, don't you? That's why you're a villain you idiot, you think your emotions are more important than the well being of others!" They scoffed in derision and turned toward the staircase to get of the roof "Grow up you looser"
|
“You… you’re sure you don’t want to think about it?”
“Positive. The love of my life can take of herself.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Now excuse me while I go save this bus. Then I’m gonna come back and pop you like a zit, if Starfall hasn’t already.”
“Starfall? What are you talking about?”
“You said the love of my… damnit.”
“The love of your life is Starfall! Holy crap!”
“Wait, then who do you have?”
“… Leonora McAvoy.”
“That girl with the blog? Blech.”
“Hey. She’s… nice.”
“I’m dating Lady Starfall, dude.”
“Yeah. Way to go on that. But Leonora really is nice.”
“Well then make her the love of what’s left of your life while I go solve your trolley problem bull crap, ass.” Vroooosh (flying sound).
|
ReasonablyBadass
|
finnmaccoul22
|
2023-07-03 05:43:21
|
2023-07-03 04:18:55
| 88 | 49 |
jqh0ydp
|
jqgta13
|
14p13ue
|
14p13ue
|
[WP] You've noticed that unlike the rest of your companions, the elves you're travelling with have never excused themselves to answer nature's call, even though they eat and drink just as often as you do. When you work up the courage to ask the elves about this, their explanation astounds you.
|
It was during a lunch break, in the middle of a trek, that the thought occurred to me.
"Hey, Aelius..." I asked slowly, "Where do you keep all your arrows? I could have sworn you ran out a few days ago but your quiver's still full. Is it magic?"
Littlefinger, our halfling rogue, suddenly looked up with an expression of alarm before he spun around and stuck his fingers in his ears.
Aelius got a thoughtful look on his face, before he crossed his legs and leaned back, in the same way he always did when he was about to go into 'expository sage mode'.
"No, it's not a magic quiver. Funnily enough, it's actually a biological process." he started to explain.
"Like, when a mommy arrow and a daddy arrow get together and have a little nest of fletchettes?" I asked. Oddly, Littlefinger was humming loudly to himself to drown out the conversation.
Aelius let out a chuckle, "No, no, it's elven biology. See, we have a diet very rich in fibre and cellulose."
"An elf eats, shoots, and leaves." I commented with a wry smile.
"Something like that." Aelius agreed, "Anyway, the funny thing about us, at least compared to other humanoids, is that we have a very strong connection to plant life. Strong enough that when we have undigested cellulose fibres in our bodies, over time our bodies will actually reconstitute those fibres back into living wood. Most of the time we literally have a sapling growing in us."
I stared. I blinked a couple of times. "Wooww..." I eventually breathed out, "That is simultaneously really bizarre and really cool."
Aelius nodded, "And those saplings are where I get the wood for my arrows."
I nodded back, "So you just, spit them up? Like a sword-swallowing routine?" I asked, tilting my head up and miming pulling a sword out of my throat.
Aelius smiled. "Nope." he said.
I blinked.
Aelius continued to smile innocently.
I blinked again.
Littlefinger shot us a glance out of the corner of his eye before he went back to humming with his fingers in his ears.
Another blink, before I asked, "So...how do you...?"
"The other end." Aelius said simply.
"Ah." I sat back for a second before my mind caught up. "Wait, what? Like, your 'rear end' other end?"
Aelius nodded, "Correct."
"Ewww!"
"The short version is, elves excrete wood that can be used for arrow shafts." he went on innocently.
I squinted and stuck my tongue out with a 'bleh'.
"You might say in your particular vernacular that I'm pulling arrows out of my ass." the elf continued.
"I regret asking!" I clapped my hands over my ears.
"That's also the reason why elven blademasters and paladins tend to be so uptight, they literally have a stick up their asses." Aelius cheerfully went on.
"La la la la I can't hear you!" I declared, spinning around just like Littlefinger did before.
"I do have to watch my diet, otherwise I can end up dropping logs..."
|
"... So that's what I mean. I do it. Beatrice does it. Imani and Baku are from the nubian deserts" He fingers the shape of a foreign continent in the air. "They do it. That orc... guy-"
"Zogstuf" She said, discerningly.
"Yeah" He points. "Zogg. He does it. Alot. Like a shitload- no pun intended."
"What *pun*?" Gylledhia's sharp, steely brow furrowed.
...
"... What?"
"'Shit' is a human expletive. It is recent."
"Yeah." He muttered. "It is. But that's because... it comes *out* of you." He gestures his hands downward "It's gross."
"Nothing comes out of me, Derek." She barked sitting impossibly still
"Yeah, except when...." He trailed off. "You eat plenty of apples, and it comes out *firm* right?" gripping the air.
"I don't follow" she lisped dangerously.
"**Okay!**" He yelped "Like, you know the think between your-"
"I'm aware. Males and females use it to-"
"**Yeah!** That. But there's something else.... we *do*." He begins pacing, voice lightening "Most of the time. Especially men like me and Baku, stuck in no man's land. With dwarves and... goblins and, *worgs* and... you. We just... listen to nature."
"Nature tells you to procreate. Young men like you are *dead* in 5 years. I've seen enough of you to know."
"No. I meant like..." He falls abrutly onto a nearby rock. Intentionally. "Ugh..."
...
"Like you know when you drink too much *mead* and..."
"Mead?"
"**Gods!**" A firmer voice interrupted from behind. "Do you *shit*, Gylledhia?"
"Do I?" She replied curiously.
"I just took a fat one-"
"Do you have no restraint man!?" Derek whispered.
"What *good* is that?" he sung maniacally.
"In front of a *woman* Baku. Shame onto you! And your sister-"
The elf's face and pure purple eyes contorted even more, she sprung up abruptly. "Hold!" They knew what this meant.
She returned to her tent to tended to her equipment. Derek still, flinching silently for what wrath Baku may have incurred, while the man himself waits with glee, eager.
She comes out and orders both of them to sit.
"I don't answer to nature, as you say."
...
"Speak."
"Uh..." Derek paused. “What do you do.”
"Not your concern…”
“… I told Derek 'nothing’ comes out of me, but something does. Infants. A couple thousand of them. Tens of thousands of years ago. From you lot… I’ve lived long enough to where it no longer concerns me.”
…
“Okay?” Derek responded with an oddly high volume. “That’s personal.”
“Neither of you will live to tell. I know this. But you are entertaining. I hope you have issue.”
…
…
“Baku. How *would* you?"
"Through your butthole!" the man chapped up.
Her eyes settled, then quickly widened.
"***HOLE!?***" Gylledhia shouted.
|
Avaday_Daydream
|
None
|
2023-04-23 10:22:19
|
2023-04-23 03:47:44
| 171 | 91 |
jhdlcdz
|
jhcqqpl
|
12vn8x6
|
12vn8x6
|
[WP] When bloody rain began to fall over most of the earth, many religious leaders began to proclaim the end times were upon us. Then corpses came crashing down, identified as Zeus, Odin, Osiris, and Jesus of Nazareth, and we realized it was so much worse.
|
"Sir, this is bad." The intern said. I'd say he was an agent, but the Alphabet Soup had decided that my little outpost in Megiddo, established after the Seven Day War, didn't need more than one agent. Not that, you know, they were right as of...
THUD!!!
Now. "Sam, can you identify this one?" I ask, already knowing what this one was.
"Yes, sir, Ted. It's..." I see him squint, and then gasp in shock. "Holy... That's Jesus Himself!!!"
"Yes." I sigh. "And now you see why I have been trying to get in touch with Langley?" Then the earth rumbles beneath us, and a massive hand erupts from the Earth, grabs the divine corpse we'd had eyes on, and drags it beneath the ground. The phone rang.
"Agent Samson, we need you on the ground, now. Every Christian of higher rank than the manager of your local Walmart just dropped dead." I recognized the voice.
"Agent Lydia, I'm at my outpost. Please restate what you said." I replied.
"Every Christian, Protestant, Catholic, Amish, whatever, higher ranked in the community and/or church than your local Walmart manager just dropped dead." She says. "I'm currently at the United Nations, where the Pope just dropped like a rock."
|
The crowds gather quickly, but stop at an invisible cordon unanimously and wordlessly agreed upon, surrounding the fallen gods. A uoung greek girl in Athens picka up a stick and leans a little closer to poke Zues in the foot. Nothing.
Suddenly, as if they had been hiding behind the air itself, huge green aircraft shimmer into view. Their wings are wide and tipped with glowing nacels. Instead of a nose, the craft stretches forward in a long neck, ending in an angular and bulky looking head.
A guteral voice erupts from the sky, reverberating across the world. The words, if they can be called that, are not in any language the authorities can discerne, until a man in a Star Trek T-shirt starts to translate.
"People of Earth!" he says, his voice trembling with excitement and dread, "I am K'Aruf of the house Ko'laath of the Klingon Empire. We have slain your gods, they seemed like too much trouble. You're welcome."
|
Wasphammer
|
None
|
2023-04-18 09:42:44
|
2023-04-18 08:47:07
| 52 | 37 |
jgq4jih
|
jgq0t0q
|
12q915q
|
12q915q
|
[WP] The Clergy hates your eccentric ways, but you remain the best Exorcist and you love your job. You're only called upon to chase the strongest, fiercest demons. But your prayers are just for show, what really terrifies the spirits away is witnessing a demon powerful enough to take human shape...
|
Before the story progresses further, its important I give you some information about demons. You see, they are not born like humans are. Instead, there's a constant amount of demons. When one dies, another is created, fully-grown and aware, wandering the many planes of hell.
When a demon is created, they are weak. Some of them can barely even lift a sword. And there's only a few ways to get stronger. They can train their bodies, exercising and working to make themselves physically stronger. They can train their minds, studying, learning, and practicing to gain magic abilities. Or, they can steal the work of others.
If a demon is dying, they disappate into ash and smoke. This ash and smoke, when consumed by a demon, passes the dead's skills onto the consumer. If a demon becomes strong enough to defeat other demons, their power will grow exponentially.
But eventually, demons get bored. The planes of hell are nothing special, after all. If you've seen one volcanic lake of hellfire, you've seen them all. So, demons will leave hell, usually as soon as they're strong enough to pierce the veil dividing Hell from Earth.
But once they do so, they need to look human. They need a body. They need a host. They find a human they can overpower, and they unknowingly flip a coin. You see, when a demon takes a human hostage, there are two possible outcomes.
Outcome one; they gain control of the human. They live the humans life undiscovered, experiencing the human world until the body dies, and the demon needs to either return to hell, or find a new host.
Outcome two; they are discovered. The control is unsecure, leaving the host scrabbling against them, and the host's friends and family aware something is wrong. This then has two results. Either the host will die, by their own hands or by complications involved in the process. Or, the host will be exorcised. The demon dies, and the human regains full control.
I am one of the exorcists called upon during the second outcome. Most of my fellow exorcists call my methods "eccentric", or "a mockery of the art". But dislike my methods all they like, they cannot argue with my results. While it takes most days or weeks to exorcise a demon, it has never taken me more than an hour.
Lock me in a room with the possessed and a few witnesses, and my "eccentric" chants will leave the demon dusted quicker than any one of my colleagues could manage if they got thousands of years of practice.
You see, Im a demon. When I left hell, my coinflip landed on outcome one. I experienced earth in another's body until they died, and then I went back to hell, with new understanding of the difference between Earth and hell.
I used this knowledge to grow my strength even more. And when I went back to Earth again, this time, I tried something different. Instead of taking a body by force, I found a human who was willing to have a passenger. I did not vie for control, I simply watched. I watched how humans' walked, how they ate, how they grew, how they thought. How they lived.
I learned everything about them firsthand, from the way their cells replicated and their neurons communicated to their unconcious body language. I learned what their every tone of voice meant, I learned about their technology, I learned everything my human was willing to let me experience.
And in exchange I gave them what help I could. I lessened their pain, I aided them with their studies. I helped them maintain schedules, helped them remember things. Rather than a parasite-host relationship, I and Ella maintained a beneficial relationship. The day that she passed, I learned firsthand what the humans called Sorrow.
I retreated to hell again, hiding away for a long time as I picked my way through this new experience called grieving. Decades passed before I crossed the veil again. But this time, I used everything Ella had taught me, and I made myself a body from scratch. My frist attempt crumbled, and my second turned to sludge. But my third attempt was perfect. It fit me just right.
So I became the first demon to walk Earth in a body all my own. And the knowledge spread through all of Hell. And the very idea terrified every demon alive.
"No demon has ever done that before" They whispered to each other. "How strong must they be to manage that feat?"
I'm not sure if my strength of the time had an effect on it. But with my job exising those demons who are possesing humans, I'm even stronger now. I can do anything I want without repercussions. And what I want is to live a life among the humans.
|
"...What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean-" the young girl screams, and an unnatural force knocks me to the ground.
"Father David!" Gabriel, my apprentice, ran up to me, "Are you okay?"
The young girl, formerly Lydia, struggled against the chains, bound to the stone column. The candlelight flickers, a sent of rotting fills the room, and an innate sense of fear stabs like a dagger into me. An unnaturally deep and grizzly voice escapes the girl, "Foolish mortals, you cannot contain me! I am the darkness, I am... what is this presence?"
"Father, who art in heaven, hallow be thy name..."
The girl grows still and begins to hyperventilate.
"Father, what is going on?" Gabriel looks up at the stairwell, trying to see where this unknown prayer was coming from.
"...thy kingdom come, thy will be done..."
"No wait-" the girls eyes roll to the back of her head, "Please lord, have mercy on me."
"Not him, anyone but him..." I put my hands on my head and sigh deeply.
"...on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day -"
A dark shroud erupts from the girl, and tears swell I her eye, "Wha- what's going on?" Lydia begins to cry.
A young man, in a black suit and bow tie, with his black hair slicked back, comes into view, "Brother David, and you must be young Gabriel."
I let out another deep sigh, for a moment forgetting about the demon and crying child, "Brother Caine, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I was just in Roma, and I heard you were having issues with a level 13 demon. I'd love to catch up, but we need to get her out of those chains first." He walks over and slides a small knife, with an elaborately carved wooden handle.
"How did you do that? You exercised at tier 13 demon, with a full possession of a host, only using a portion of the lord's prayer!" Gabriel runs up to the Caine, with a look of amazement and admiration.
"It's not the verse that banishes the demon. It is the faith in our lord above." He smiles down at Gabriel.
"Don't feed him such nonsense. Not everyone possesses your natural talents." I grab Gabriel by the shoulder and pull him closer.
"Leave me now, I'll finish up here."
"Gladly. Come, Gabriel. " I could tell Gabriel wished to stay, see him work, and ask more questions, but he knows not to defy my order. Caine's abilities are great, but he is without caution. Entering the extraction chamber, knowing there is a powerful demon within, without proper raiment, would open any normal man to possession or death.
"Come here dear, it's over now."
The girl, seeing his warm smile and the silver cross around his neck, lunged forward, embracing him in a hug. Caine bends down on one knee and takes the girl by the shoulders, "Everything will be alright, you can trust me."
Caine proceeds to stab his hand into her gut, going through her shirt and skin. The girls face freezes as he slowly removes his hand, a bright white light contained within. His jaw unhenges as he consumes a pure, innocent soul.
"That would explain it." Shadows amass, like a puddle of darkness on the floor. From this unnatural darkness, a form emerges. A skinny demon with two large horns, with skin as dark as night. The demon kneels before Father Caine.
Caine snaps his jaw back in place, "I expected you to flee, I am pleasantly surprised."
"I would never abandon the chance to serve you, Lord Beelzebub, prince of he'll, devil of gluttony, Lord of the Flys, master of savages, bringer of-"
"Enough, I cease your groveling."
"Yes, my lord. I must ask, why have you abandoned hell for this lesser form?"
"You will see soon enough, first though, overtake this body. Without the soul, you'll find no struggle." Lydia's body stands almost perfectly still, blabbering about 'the darkness,' as most of those Caine exorcises do.
"Yes, master." The shadows lose their form and flow into the girl.
"Meet me in Vien in a fortnight. Act like a traumatized child before the priests, return to her family, and drown the body in a river. Then, hide in animals during the day and travel in secrecy at night. Once you arrive in Vein, I'll find you." Caine grabs the girl by the shoulder and ascends to stairwell.
|
ArtistRedFox
|
Tberlin21
|
2023-03-27 23:47:45
|
2023-03-27 23:26:47
| 25 | 11 |
jdxtfei
|
jdxqlao
|
123m2lb
|
123m2lb
|
[WP] "Dragon, I've come to slay you!" Confused, you look at the unarmored child pointing a wooden sword at you.
|
“Dragon, I’ve come to slay you!” The high-pitched voice echoed through the cavern, startling me awake. Before me stood a tiny figure, clutching a wooden sword with both hands. His face was set in a fierce scowl, though his cheeks were round and his eyes sparkled with mischief.
I tilted my head, smoke curling from my nostrils as I tried to make sense of the scene. “Slay me?” I rumbled, my voice deep and resonant, though I kept it gentle. “And who, pray tell, are you, little one?”
“I am Sir Drakan, the Black Knight and the bravest in all the land!” the child declared, puffing out his chest. He swung the wooden sword in a wide arc, nearly losing his balance in the process. “And I shall defeat you, foul beast, to save the kingdom!”
“Ah, Sir Drakan,” I said, lowering my head to his level. My voice took on a serious tone. “You are indeed brave to face me. But are you sure you’re ready for such a battle? I am a mighty dragon, after all.”
The little one hesitated for a moment, his sword wavering. Then he nodded firmly. “I’m not scared! I’ve trained for this!”
“Very well,” I said, rising to my full height and spreading my wings dramatically. “Then let’s see if you can withstand my fiery breath!”
I opened my jaws, letting a small puff of smoke escape. He squealed with delight, dodging to the side as if avoiding a real blast of flame. He swung his wooden sword at my tail, which I flicked to make it seem like he had landed a blow.
“Ha! Take that, dragon!”
“Oh no, you’ve wounded me!” I exclaimed, clutching at my side with a claw. I let out a theatrical groan and collapsed. “I am defeated! You are truly the greatest knight to ever live.”
“I did it! I saved the kingdom!”
I chuckled, the sound reverberating through the cavern. “Indeed you did, little one. But remember, even the bravest knights need their rest. How about we celebrate your victory with a nap?”
He nodded eagerly, curling up against my warm scales. As his eyes drifted shut, I gently nuzzled him. My son, my little Nefarian, would one day grow into a magnificent dragon. But for now, he was my brave knight, and I was content to play along in his adventures.
|
"Teacher, what have you would for me?"
You lift your mighty head from underneath the cloak you are wearing now. "What?" What the hell kind of question was that? Cale still talked like that for some goddam reason. Sentiment maybe. You flick your green body a few times and get up from your sleep. You weren't doing great these days. The young man in the green armor with the red flume and sword, your knight and heir, is no longer bowing. You were a powerful mage and Dragon Lord and you had taught him well. To defend those like you, those magical beasts and men who were hunted in this plane. He had seen a lot l, and now bore a face scarred diagonally. But to you, he would always be that six year old boy with the wooden sword who blamed you for the death of his parents.
"You aren't getting better. " He says. "Stop worrying, son. It's just a cold." You nearly snarl anlt him. "Dragons don't get colds father." He says unbothered. He's right, but you don't need him or your other three children worrying. Cale would always serve your order faithfully, hut the others,dragons like yourselves, would... thrash in their grief when you died. You remember a dream, a wisp of the future, of your two eldest sons standing at his grave, tearfully blaming eachother for his death. And then more blood flowing. Your daughter... so much like her red mother, turning your forces, your squires against the Cold beings who served the lich who cursed you. The ones who had no choice in the matter who would be slaughtered without mercy. No, you couldn't let that come to be. You'd have to rectify it yourself. Of course, you had other visions of different lives, you always had. You just had to make sure it would come to be. And you knew that when he leaves to do as you tell him, you will fight and slay the undead abomination that you've quarreled with, so, so many times, and free his slaves from their frozen agony. And you will give your children and followers one final feat they may look up to.
|
thunderfbolt
|
Flywheel977
|
2025-02-15 07:16:20
|
2025-02-14 16:38:20
| 18 | 10 |
mcv9jht
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mcr5us3
|
1ipa2px
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1ipa2px
|
[WP] You are at the center of a time traveling war. For every assassin sent back to the past to murder you, another warrior is sent to protect you and kill the assassin before they get a chance. As the bodies pile up, you still don’t have the slightest clue why you’re so important to these people.
|
The world is ending.
Not literally. Global climate change has turned the arable lands into arid wastes. The oceans have started to tip into inhospitable carbonated saunas. The algae crops are failing. Worst we didn't control our population. People are sleeping on the streets it's so over crowded. Soon. Soon we will all starve.
I was lucky, I've got a job working for one of the Algae plants, I tend the murky red algae vats. My mom pulled some strings and I've been set. The company feeds billions. I got Flfood on the table every night but then there are the assassins. First day of work, minding the vats and a rift opens, out pops a dude, lunges for me and then another rift a another dude with a sword stabs him. Second dude disappears. Great. Just great. I'm so going to loose my job I think. But then, a thought occurs to me. And I give him a nudge into the vat. Problem solved. Yeah no. They started showing up all the time. Lots of them. So many I lost count. I had to rent a van and make midnight deliveries to work to get rid of them all. I was worried about it but it's been going fine. The ph of the vats have changed but corporate sent new ph guidelines so yeah. My vats have turned from red to green.
I can't tell anyone. For obvious reasons. But i'd still like to know what is going on. Part of me wonders if it's all a clever way to smuggle us food.
|
I still remember the first time it happened. I was walking down my usual path in evening , my path in woods. When the thing best described as 'dollar store Spartan' appeared in front of me. It aimed its gun at me, but another creature resembling an overgrown pig with cyborg implants shielded me from its bullets.And Swallowed. It .Whole. I thought I was its next meal but it simply nuzzled me and disappeared,as suddenly it had appeared. Took me 10 seconds to unfreeze. And another 30 to realize I better have a good excuse for my soiled pants.
I have become more habitual to these 'rescues' now. Playing AC 3 on my computer? An actual assassin will appear to stab me, only to be shot by a laser gun.
Taking a dump? Witnesses a mini drone battle right below my ass.
I have canceled my Prime and Netflix subscription; these time traveling idiots are a perfect entertainment.
Good thing I am a loner; no one around me is in danger of being a collateral casaulty. God knows what my impact is going to be on future, that so many fanatics try to kill me;only to be stopped by more fanatics.
Anyway, its time for me to reach my lab. I need to continue my research on epithelial ovarian carcinoma.
|
GoogleIsYourFrenemy
|
Short-Echo61
|
2023-02-19 07:51:35
|
2023-02-19 07:04:23
| 150 | 79 |
j950wov
|
j94xadb
|
115zvws
|
115zvws
|
[WP] Welcome to utopia! No, really, we won! We did it. We ended war, ended prejudice, ended famine. Everyone's happy. Everyone's fulfilled. Everyone's safe. Stop looking for a dark secret. Stop trying to find a flaw. Why can't you just accept the world is perfect now?
|
Everything was just a bit too okay.
The smiles. just a bit off.
The lighting was just a bit too bright.
Everything was a bit too perfect.
"why cant you just accept it?" asked my young companion curiously. He asked aloofly as if he did not care about the contents of my answer. Yet his eyes held a spark, and i did not like the way they darted around everywhere.
"its... the little things... that dont match up..." I said while looking at the embers of a fire that just went out. Directly above it was a lamp.
"what do you mean? Everyone's safe; what are you talking about?" He said, as he tried to catch a fleeting rat, that ran into the first sewer he saw.
It was also the first sewer I'd seen in the entire city. There was no sewage system. It was when I realized that, did i start seeing manhole covers and such.
"well firstly... at night... the stars dont align properly, but its not even that. I dont care if everyone's safe. I am not going to live in a lie. I did not fight generational wars, just to live a lie. To live in a place where theres fucking lamps above a fireplace, literally what the fuck."
"oh oh thats probably just-" He stammered while darting to the dying fireplace.
"no, no im not done, i realized it was all a facade when i realized the water tasted like FUCKIGN ICE, you had ONE job, and you couldnt do that, why, please tell me WHY JEFF, WHY WOULD ANYONE THINK THIS IS REAL????"
"i need new fucking developers" I mutter underneath my breath as i start over the world anew.
|
I took a deep breath. Counting every prime and Fibonacci number I could remember. The Stepford smiler in front of me had no single idea of what IT is saying.
*They did it?* Wrong... They didn't. They waited until everyone was too tired to fight back, just like what Asimov's Hurrians did many times in "The Gentle Vultures".
*Everyone is happy* Wrong again... Humanity is a bag of contradictions and self cancelling ideas. The very idea of Democracy was a lie that many said to themselves to explain why they were so unhappy when the rest chose for themselves.
I take another deep breath.
"Why can't I accept the world as perfect?" I asked loudly, "Because that is a lie... The world would never be perfect, or convenient for everyone."
"Omelas was an example of that... But you wouldn't understand that..."
"Human nature is too complex to simply uniformize the idea of happiness and satisfaction."
"And even if you managed to make it for me exclusively... I know that someone out there would suffer for my choices. And that makes it a complete hell for me."
"So no, you thing... This will never be Utopia... "
I rose, now much calmer after releasing my anger against the human thing in front of me. And just when I was about to leave that room... The thing rises.
Slowly, a predator going after it's prey...
|
MotherEater69420
|
Aljhaqu
|
2025-04-11 19:34:55
|
2025-04-11 19:02:00
| 115 | 28 |
mmm6z1c
|
mmm0m83
|
1jwxe27
|
1jwxe27
|
[WP] Humans have always been endurance hunters. We can endure untold physical, psychological, and emotional trauma. Being so unexceptional, we are mocked by the intergalactic community until war shows how terrifying it is to simply... endure.
|
I laughed. "So your ships can evade shots. Good for you."
"Surrender. This is your final warning." The Xeno commander growled over the comms.
I smiled. "Nah. If I remember correctly, the last thing Electorate Masvark said was to not, so... no."
Railguns fired at my lone ship, in orbit above Earth. It was a scientific research vessel, but Humanity was still spooling up our Hard Light industry when the invasion came, and with it fully reusable 'rockets.'
The shots hit the shielding of the SRV, and nothing happened.
My smile turned into a crap-eating grin, as my lone railgun fired a shot at the closest ship. It evaded. "I can do this all day."
"So can I."
\-----
I yawned. "You're still going at it. Let me tell you this: Hard Light may be new, but the reason why its so scarce is because we used all of it to shield the Earth. Good luck getting down there. On an unrelated note, the sensor array attached to this ship is reporting everything back down to Earth. We're coming for you eventually."
The Xeno commander let out another string of curses.
"You might be fast, trying to dodge shots. But afterwards, you spend most of your time sleeping. We Humans get hit, we get injured. But we keep going. Fun fact: We can last days without sleeping." My railgun fired again. Another ship caught unawares, its crew sleeping. "You might be a problem, yes, but we will outlast you."
"Try me." The commander said. I had to hand it to him, he seemed mostly awake for visibly needing sleep as badly as he did.
\-----
"Log, day fourteen. Xeno fleets one through four have been destroyed. They appear to not have a very good grasp on 'tank' tactics. Even so, due to the nature of Hard Light technology, we can already match their speed. We just need more ships faster.
"But that's ground control's problem. Xeno flagship is sleeping again, as per usual. Hull appears to need maintenance, suggesting a culture centered around short bursts of activity, which fits their description.
"Contact with the Galactic Union following a survey ship sent to Sol to see what hostile's fleets were doing has gone well. See incident log *TFSU Untested Ideas SRV 000-00-001 Log 91.*"
\-----
"Log, day five hundred and four. Docked to the space elevator today, and after another month in space I'm going to go see my family. This is humanity's first FTL pilot, James Kratfall, signing off."
|
A giant flash lit up the starless sky for a split second as another city the size of Chicago evaporated into nothingness. Calcus gritted his teeth, looking tense.
»Number?«
»That was the sixth human city, sir.«
He shook his head and began to massage his temples. His advisors must have been trying to play him for a fool when they promised him a quick victory. If it weren't for the fact that this conquest was his ticket to the Senate, it would be almost comical. Soft sacks of flesh and fat, most of them barely able to hoist half of their own bodyweight, standing their ground against an infinitely more advanced race? The weakest, smallest, and frail Pistri would be able to take on a horde of these absurd organ bundles. Even our children easily tower over their most refined specimens and can crack their puny skulls open like rotten nuts. The longer he thought about it, the closer Calcus felt to insanity.
»S… Sir, are we to ready the satellite for another shot?« The trembling voice of his commander snapped him out of his thoughts before he had a chance to fully indulge in the madness. The satellite was a powerful tool, but it was usually regarded as a one-time, final measure due to the enormous costs of shooting it just once. After today, he thought, the amount he would have to pay back to his family must have reached staggering proportions. He let out a disapproving grunt. »Ready the soldiers, we are finishing them the old way.« His general hesitated for a split second and opened his lips ever so slightly as if about to make a remark, but he thought better of it.
He knew what his general meant to say. The reason they were destroying cities from the safety of space was that they already tried the old way. They have already been down there slaughtering, torturing, and destroying whole countries for weeks, maybe months, and yet it all seemed to be in vain. A younger Calcus would have killed his soldier on the spot just for this suggestion of disobedience. But that was before Earth, before humans. If he was honest with himself, he wasn't sure anymore whether he really wanted to conquer this abandoned rock and its worthless sacks of meat.
|
Nomyad777
|
SheepSheppard
|
2023-04-13 00:02:16
|
2023-04-12 22:38:30
| 25 | 17 |
jg123kz
|
jg0qp1a
|
12j4xqt
|
12j4xqt
|
[WP] Everyone on Earth wakes up with a number on their wrist indicating how many lives they've impacted. You, an unremarkable person working a mundane job, have a number exponentially higher than anyone else
|
"How'd you do it? How'd you glitch your number so high?"
"I..I didn't." I stammer at the menacing thug, known only as Nombro.
The numbers on our wrists indicate 'lives impacted' for better or, as in Nombro's, for worse.
"You know why they call me Nombro?" I shake my head a little
"Because I. AM. THE. NUMBER! I have the highest known number in our city. No one even comes close. Then you waltz in, with your number zooming up by the second."
He holds out his wrist, then grabs mine. His numbers are a dark red, almost black. The number is impossibly high, and stable, at 140,703. Even the font oozes menace. Mine is much lighter, but clearly visible, in a more rounded font, like comic sans. Mine is constantly ticking higher. Currently at 11,545,461 and counting.
"One million five hundred thousand"
I don't point out the missed number.
"Do you know what I've done to *earn* my number? The next closest hasn't even broken 100,000. What do you do? You a doctor, nurse, researcher? Why it it still going up?"
I shake my head.
"Like you say it's a glitch. I just don't know what caused it. It was all normal until last year. I had a couple of hundred, and I was quite proud of it. When it suddenly went up, and kept going up. In answer to your question about my job, I'm only an administration assistant at a small electrical component manufacturer. We mostly do parts for the automotive industry. One of our parts is now used in most brands of cars made all around the world." I sense he's about to interrupt. "BUT other than proof reading documents, I had literally nothing to do with designing, creating, or building that part. I promise, no one else will ever know about my...glitch. It's a mistake."
Nombro leans back, releasing my wrist.
"Did you ever save anyone's life?"
"Yes... Well sort of. A guy that worked at my company, he... I stopped him from jumping off the roof... the first time.... not the second. And" I added hopefully "I'm a blood donor. That might of saved a few lives, but the rest is a glitch. I'll be more careful about covering it with make up or my watch band."
"Or" Nombro said as he played with a hunting knife, twirling it casually in his fingers
"I could kill you, resume my title as *THE* number"
"Sure, sure" I said. Thinking quickly and trying to suppress my panic. "What if it's not a glitch? What if eleven million people descend on you to seek revenge. My number has a positive glow, a positive impact. So sure, you could kill me and hope that it's all fine, but even if ten per cent of *my people* that I've 'greatly impacted' come to find you, you're done for. Or, perhaps I could be a great ally to you, but you can have the glory of the title. "
Nombro weighed up the options, and I hoped that that the next person I positively impacted would be him.
|
When the phenomenon occurred, it was met with worldwide confusion. Each individual, young and old, awoke with a glowing number imprinted on their wrist. As the pattern became clear - the numbers represented the count of lives each person had impacted - shockwaves reverberated through societies.
Most bore numbers that ranged from a few hundreds to thousands. Celebrities and leaders had tallies reaching into the millions. Then, there was me, Jake, a routine city sanitation worker with an inexplicable number that dwarfed them all: 987,654,321.
The media frenzy that ensued was overwhelming. Overnight, I found myself in a blinding spotlight, under a microscope for the world to dissect. Why me? What had I done to earn such a high score?
As weeks passed, my number only grew while others plateaued. The public intrigue turned into suspicion and fear. Was I a messiah or a monster in disguise?
Then came the day when my number soared to 7,654,321,098, surpassing the total human population. The global reaction was one of hysteria and terror.
That night, a strange figure approached me, revealing himself as an envoy from an alien civilization known as the Zephyrites. He explained that my mundane job had unexpected implications. The waste I had been sorting and disposing contained residues of human creativity and culture - traces of paints, writings, electronics, music instruments, books - which had been unknowingly transmitted to their civilization via quantum particles.
To the Zephyrites, our waste wasn't refuse, but a treasure trove of knowledge that had catalyzed a technological revolution in their society. The discarded remnants of our civilization had propelled theirs forward in ways they could never have imagined.
But the rapidly increasing number and the sudden visitation didn't herald a time of unity or celebration. Instead, it revealed a chilling truth. The Zephyrites had exploited the knowledge they gained, not for peace or prosperity, but for power. They had built weapons and technologies that now posed a threat to Earth. The number on my wrist wasn't just a measure of impact; it was a ticking clock, a silent countdown to the impending doom of our world.
The fame that once felt exhilarating now weighed heavy on my heart. I was not a savior, but an inadvertent betrayer of my own kind. My simple actions, my regular job, had pushed humanity to the brink of subservience to an alien civilization. As Earth prepared for an uncertain future, I had to live with the knowledge that I had unknowingly played a part in its downfall.
|
IlikethequietZeppo
|
chartporn
|
2023-07-26 09:39:39
|
2023-07-26 09:31:40
| 345 | 76 |
jti2uqe
|
jti28tu
|
159wjh5
|
159wjh5
|
[WP] You died and were sent to hell, but instead of getting escorted down to a specific level of hell, you're escorted straight to the Devil himself who looks mildly horrified while holding the file of your life in his hands.
|
"You don't look surprised to be here."
You stare at your feet, offering no reply. What else is there left to say, at this point?
"You know what most people get wrong about the afterlife?" The devil asks as he closes your file. "They think they don't have any choice in the matter. That there's some kind of great cosmic judge who ultimately decides where you go when you die. But that isn't really so. The truth is... Well... Everyone goes where they *expect* to go."
The words shock you to your core as the implications slowly become clear to you. You look up at the devil. Surprisingly, he appears somewhat concerned.
"You're here because you think you deserve this. You really, *genuinely* believe you're a bad person. Why is that?" The devil picks up your file again. "I've handled some truly nasty cases in my time, and I've prided myself on giving them the punishments they think they deserve. But *you*? Come on... I mean, look at your file! You're not a bad person. Not really."
The devil sighs. It's a strange sight- you could swear he looks tired, and maybe even a bit sympathetic. He picks up the phone sitting on his desk and dials a number.
"Got another one, Pete. I'm sending them back up." He paused while the person on the other end spoke. "No, no, it's nothing like that. I just think..." He paused again. "... I just think they're depressed. And that maybe they need another chance. I'm marking them for a do-over." As he speaks, the devil marks your file with a rubber stamp. It reads "NOT YOUR TIME YET."
You begin to feel light, suddenly. Before you know it, you're floating- ascending toward something you can't see. As you rise, the devil calls out to you.
"Go easy on yourself this time, huh? If I see you back here again, I'm keeping you!"
|
"So a Baptist, a Hasidic Jew, and a Muslim, walk into a bar. They each grab a bar stool, and the bartender walks over, looking quizzically at them.
"You boys in the right place?
"All three looked around, like, are you talking to us?
"So the bartender sighs and asks, 'Well suit yourselves. What can I get you guys?'
"The Baptist opens his coat showing an explosive vest, hits the plunger and blows up the place!"
His crowd roars with laughter.
A man runs on the stage with a cell phone and says, "Your Hideousness, it's an emergency call for you!"
"Can't you see I'm working here? I gotta tune up this act before I go touring the lower planes next week. It's Hell down there. Those crowds will crucify you."
Looking very nervous, the imp replies, " Boss I know. But they said this one was critical."
He snatches away the phone and spits, " What do you want? I'm trying to perform here!
The crowd of the Damned before him start murmuring amongst themselves. They'd never seen The Devil this way.
After a few moments of listening he interjected a question, "He did what? Send me the video!"
The Devil put his phone on speaker, then watched a video of a man performing particularly heinous acts.
The Devil bent over choking, trying not to vomit.
After a moment of gagging he returned the phone to his ear saying, "This guy send him upstairs. Yes, ALL THE WAY upstairs.
"OH, I don't care what the Big Man says, send him. Mister I am the Alpha & Omega, Mister I created the whole world can deal with it. I'm out of here.
|
antipyretical
|
None
|
2023-01-16 05:45:02
|
2023-01-16 05:17:19
| 3,496 | 25 |
j4jw8yo
|
j4jtduk
|
10d2vy0
|
10d2vy0
|
[WP] For three years you’ve had an uneventful marriage with your spouse when one day they become the Chosen One. Immediately setting off on their journey you don’t hear anything from them for five years. Then one day they reappear with a sheepish look on their face asking to speak to you.
|
Five years is a long time to live in silence.
When Lyra left, she did not say goodbye the way people should. She stood in the doorway with a wild look in her eyes, a sword she had never wielded strapped awkwardly to her back, and a hastily packed satchel of supplies slung over her shoulder. By midday, she was gone.
That had been the end of our uneventful marriage.
And now, after five years of nothing, no letters, no whispers from travelling merchants, not even a dramatic celestial event heralding her return, Lyra was standing on our front steps again.
Well. Mostly Lyra.
Her eyes were still the same stormy grey, her auburn hair still tangled and defiant, her expression infuriatingly sheepish.
She cleared her throat. It came out as a vaguely human bleat.
I stared at her. I considered, for a brief moment, whether I had finally gone mad.
“So,” she said, shuffling from hoof to hoof. “Long time no see?”
I folded my arms. “You’re a sheep.”
“Half sheep. Temporary. I think. I hope.”
“I was under the impression that most people return from epic journeys with scars or a newfound sense of purpose, not as livestock.”
Lyra winced.
I stared at her for a long moment before stepping aside. “You should probably come in.”
She shuffled past me, ears flicking nervously. It was surreal, watching my wife wander back into our home partially transformed into a farm animal.
The silence stretched between us as I set about making tea. Is it the way she used to like it? I don’t remember. Do sheep drink tea?
Eventually, she exhaled. “Look, there’s something I have to tell you.”
I turned to face her, arms still crossed, waiting.
She hesitated. “Remember the prophecy?”
“The one that ripped you away from our quiet, stable life and made me a tragic figure in the whole town? Vaguely.”
She winced again. “Right. Well. So, turns out… it wasn’t me. The whole Chosen One thing. It was never about me.” She gestured at herself, ears flopping awkwardly.
I stared at her. “That’s ridiculous.”
“I know! Trust me, I spent five years thinking I was the one. But apparently, my job was just to delay things until the real Chosen One was ready.”
I rubbed my temples. “So… you are back because you found the Chosen One? Ready to take on the life of a simple housewife again? Expecting me to just welcome you back with open arms?”
Lyra’s fluffy ears started twitching. “Not quite. Erm, so it turns out that you’re the real Chosen One. And this sheep look? I need to transfer it to you. It’s the source of power to fulfil your destiny.”
The kettle whistled. I turned, took my time pouring the tea, and then inhaled deeply.
“Absolutely not. Get out.”
|
When I opened the door to find someone wearing my wife's face, armour pristine and undamaged, with her "friends" standing beside her, my first instinct was to draw my gun and start shooting. But the kids were somewhere in the fields, and I couldn't risk this thing escaping and going after them.
The woman in front of me seemed to pause before speaking a bit sheepishly. "Just thought I'd drop by to say hi and tell you that we're done. You were fun while it lasted, but little more. And I enjoy travelling too much to be slowed down by you and our spawn."
A feminine hand quickly popped around the door, and an arcane bolt flew from it blasting a massive hole into the chest of the doppelganger. For a moment, she paused and looked down to see the bluish-yellow liquid streaming from it before looking at my wife as the two shapechangers flanking her drew their swords and I raised my pistol. "How... how are you alive?! We killed you!"
My wife glanced back to make sure she hadn't accidentally burned our food while sneaking around the living room. "Not quite. I got better. Had to claw my way out of a cave of giant roaches the size of a large horse, but I wasn't going to let you kill my family. You already took my friends from their families, then made a show of handing their bodies to them. You were so sure you'd killed me that I actually had time to get home, clean up, and get started on supper. Babe, I saw the kids run by out the window, so this direction's clear."
At those words I opened fire, the shapeshifters shedding their forms too late as they fell. Their tentacles took a minute or two to stop moving, but then things were quiet again. My wife burned the bodies to ash and then walked back into the kitchen. I locked the door and followed her as the Mage turned around and hugged me tightly. I put my arms around her and returned it.
"I'm alright, I just... I'm finally home, and I'm done with travelling. I just want to stay here, maybe have a couple more kids, and just settle into a nice, simple life. No more life or death adventures, no more slaughtering people who won't take no for an answer, just us and our family." She perked up as our kids ran in from the backyard, having heard the noise. That they made it through the Wards confirmed that none of them had been replaced by shapeshifters. We finished making supper, and got started on the rest of our lives.
|
thunderfbolt
|
OdysseyPrime9789
|
2025-02-21 07:47:08
|
2025-02-20 21:54:19
| 333 | 192 |
mdycqjb
|
mdvozcs
|
1iuahub
|
1iuahub
|
[WP] “Maybe the real treasure was the friends we made alo-“ “Dude, we desecrated a major archaeological site and half of our team died for the promise of treasure that wasn’t even here!”
|
As the sun rose over the dusty, barren landscape, the team of tomb raiders gathered at the entrance of ancient ruins. They were in a remote area of the desert, far from civilization, searching for the infamous treasures of the ancient Menmire kingdom that worshipped the Sun God. Every member of the team was experienced, with bags and pockets packed full of lock picks, and tools to disarm traps and firearms.
Except for their local guide Mahmoud, whose main job was to interpret the ancient texts depicted on the map and in the walls of the ruins.
The first trap was easily disarmed. John had found the trigger and worked to pick on its mechanisms to shut it down. Throwing a pebble down the long hallways to reveal that spears no longer shot out from the ground, the team passed through the hallway to the next section.
As the team ventured deeper, excitement and greed blinded and consumed the tomb raiders, as they grew more reckless and careless.
The first sign of trouble came when Sarah fell through a weak spot in the ground and plummeted to her death in a pit full of spikes. Even after the team was on high alert after watching Sarah’s body impaled by the spikes, they still fell for the later traps. Abel was the next to die in the ruins, having jumped above the rolling spikes on the floor only for axes to descend from the ceiling and decapitate him. The ruins claimed their next victim when Vernon chose the wrong lever out of a row of 5 levers to be bisected by a gigantic sawblade.
John was determined to press forward despite the losses, but as the stressed and frightened tomb raiders went deeper and deeper, the dangers only increased. The shifting, maze-like tunnels were full of unstable pillars and shaky foundations, and more of the team were killed in collapses and cave-ins.
It was there that John’s persistence wore down and his determination turned to anger.
“Mahmoud! Didn’t the ancient texts warn about these traps at all? Why are we succumbing one by one? Shouldn’t you have figured out the safe routes by now?”
Mahmoud didn’t seem to hear him, only beckoning him forward while smiling at a small scarab that had climbed onto his hand. John sighed and followed meekly, he hated to admit as eccentric as Mahmoud was, he was the only person in the country who had the knowledge to read and translate the lost language of the Menmire Kingdom. There just wasn’t anyone else in the country who knew the language.
Following Mahmoud, the remaining members of the team found themselves in the grand tomb of the last pharaoh of the Menmire Kingdom. John was thrilled, his dreams of securing the rich treasures of the ruins coming close to fruition.
Alas, as John ran by every single sarcophagus in the tomb, every single one of them, with no exceptions, was empty. Where were the rumored valuables offered to the Sun God? What happened to the treasures buried with the pharaoh? Not even the pharaoh’s supposedly bejewelled mummy was inside his sarcophagus.
“Maybe the real treasure was the friends we made alo-“
“Mahmoud, dude, we desecrated a major archaeological site and half of our team died for the promise of treasure that wasn’t even here! What the fuck is wrong with you, this isn’t the time to get all witty and funny! Where are the treasures? Did the ancient texts say anything about the treasures?”
“My friends! Scarabs of the Sun God! They are treasures! They are wonderful friends who help me make more friends!” Mahmoud had this freakish grin John had never seen before, as swarms of scarabs suddenly poured forth from every nook and cranny of the tomb.
John screamed in terror as the scarabs fully covered the rest of his tomb-raiding team and left nothing but bones that were reanimated to become skeleton minions. More skeletons marched in from the antechambers, still wearing the clothes of members of the team who had died earlier. The skeletons picked up their shovels and began knocking onto thin false walls on one side of the tomb to reveal a massive pile of gold coins, jewellery and so many other treasures John couldn’t count.
“Now, John, unlike the rest of your team, you will not be one of my skeleton friends. I need you alive because you were the one who chartered the flight and managed the expenses. I need you to find a way for me to monetize my treasures in such a way I could utilize them in the modern world and once more live like a pharaoh.”
“Your treasures? Who the fuck are you, are you even Mahmoud?”
“I apologize for the deception, but it was necessary as I needed the manual labor to transport all my valuables. You may address me as the Pharaoh Ahkmenrah of the Menmire Empire. Now, there is much work to do, and so many treasures to carry, but at least I have many friends to help me with that.”
|
Edward glared with rage. His leader Roger took a
tentative half step back. Roger saw Edwards face get that angery once before. The king that faced Edwards wrath that time had been in the stockades by the end of the night. Seeing that face now made Roger realize he was now quickly running out of options if he wanted to have any dignity intact by journeys end. Edward wasn't a murderer. He certainly wasn't a coward either.
"Yes but the rest of us are are a lot closer than we started o-"
"NO! No we most certainly are not!" Edward cut the sniveling plea short. "Out of the eight of us who came here on this farce, only three remain."
"Four! Somalia might still be alive." Roger quickly countered.
Zandaya pipes in with a small correction. "Assuming we can excavate her from that sealed room of vipers we left her in, and find the antidote you misplaced." At that Edwards face twitched. Nose fairing up in a attempt to get a deep calming breath. That clearly wasn't working.
"Thanks for the reminder." Roger growled. Perhaps he could slink out the exit. Roger quickly turns heel and begins to flee.
Edward without a moments hesitation throws his lasso out. Ensuring the conniving conman. Toppling Roger onto the ground. Hog tieing Roger in moments. Growing up on a animal farm has its advantages. "How can you do this? Better question why did I let you do this? How can I believe all the lies you fed us. You told us this was a sanctioned trip by the locals. You told us that the riches in here would be enough to save the dying villages outside. The ones dying from curable disease. That companies like GlobalArc - the one you secretly contracted with - have been pillaging. Then to force us to leave our ailing friend behind because there was a mystical totam in the treasury that can cure them. Another bald face lie!"
"Edward, Zandaya, please! This is all a misunderstanding. I'm a victim like the rest of you. Fredrick told me that there was plenty of gold in here. We could have aided the locals with the gold."
Zendaya shook her head in disgrace. "I heard the call you made a few minutes ago. I thought you were calling for a emergency aid. Instead you were ensureing they would still pay out your contract!" The hurt she felt from the betrayal felt in every word she spoke. The scorn of disappointment only a truely loving mother and friend could give. "Why, are we truely here Roger. It most certainly wasn't for this." Sweeping her hands around the barren dimly lit coffers. Filled with nothing but dust and cobwebs.
"I, uh well you see... Uh can I have a phone call?" Roger Stammers, swat pouring out.
Edward presses rogers head into the ground. "You aren't under arrest, yet but you will be. After we take you with us to turn ourselves in. Now answer the lady!" Easing up on the grip just enough to allow Roger to respond.
"Ok! Ok! Fine. The truth is GlobalArc hired me to get them some new art exhibits. Supposedly the writting on the walls will look phenomenal in a gallery that was willing to pay top dollar for some hieroglyphs. I figured we could scour the treasury room for some charitable dough at the same time How was I supposed to know they would be empty?"
Edward arises and picks up Roger. Tossing him over his broad muscular shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "You gathered us all here to only desecrate a local tomb for your own gain. I had it with you. Let's get out of here."
"Agreed." Zendaya takes the lead to the exit. "We also should stop by and get Somalia out. We can use those chiseling and drill tools Roger has to be hiding. After all if he came to get the hieroglyphs, he must have tools to break walls."
"Your right. They must be in the covered wagon he's been lugging about. No wonder he wouldn't let anyone near it. Should have tipped us off. We could have gotten Somalia out and left this place awhile ago. If it wasn't for this greedy pig."
"Hey I'm right here!" Roger protests. Edward chooses to ignore Roger. Grabbing the cart and following Zendaya out.
"We should also do a memorial and contact Drake, Zed, and Kira's families. Their losses are tremendous as well." Zendaya quietly adds.
Edward looks at his companion in the face. Ensureing he looks at her straight in the eye. "We do. I can't believe I was so stupid. I'm sorry for convincing the group to come along. You and Kira were right to be hesitant." Zendaya knew Edward was being sincere. Edward at his core was a decent man.
Zandaya reaches out to Edward. Taking his hand in comfort. "Cons don't fool us because we're stupid. They fool us because we're human."
|
Tregonial
|
LeadingJudgment2
|
2023-04-20 15:13:55
|
2023-04-20 15:00:20
| 53 | 19 |
jh0tg0v
|
jh0rdu1
|
12svegk
|
12svegk
|
[WP] You're not sure what is going on, but you're extremely confident that at least one if not all of your college roommates are secretly ancient deities pretending - badly - to be human.
|
"Well, I panicked because I figured picking one would cause the other two to smite me. So I said "Hestia" because nobody dislikes Hestia, you know?. They didn't like that, either. And so I'm here"
"Oh, it's you.
Sadly, Mortal, while that was probably among the smartest answers you could have given, you were kind of in a lose lose scenario there"
"Yeah, I figured. But I stand by my answer. if I'm going to compliment any goddess in any context, no matter how deserved it is, I'd much rather compliment one that isn't fickle and cruel. Also one that doesn't commit atroticies against mortals."
"Well, Mortal, you died on that metaphorical hill, congratulations for sticking to your guns but welcome to the underworld. Lucky for you, though, my eldest sister petitioned for you, so you have the choice to serve her instead of whatever judgement I'd levy upon you here"
"Lucky indeed. I will happily accept her generous offer. Thanks for your understanding, lord Hades."
"Right, no problem, be on your way then, an escort should find you shortly. WILL THE NEXT SOUL PLEASE STEP FORWARD FOR JUDGEMENT"
|
“Well…I thought I’d give an honest answer.”
“An honest answer?”
“Well, yeah! Three goddesses stand before me asking me to judge them? Gotta put in maximum effort! So, I started getting critical about them. Discussed what they represented, the relative merits of each ideal, that kind of thing.”
“That sounds reasonable…”
“Then, I started discussing their looks…”
“……..Oh.”
“Yeah, in hindsight, I shouldn’t have started talking about ‘objective and subjective’ perspectives on beautify and how all three of them were close so it was hard to judge. Not to mention Aphrodite was the literal goddess of love…”
“Wait…didn’t you discuss the relative merits of what each goddess represented?”
“Well…I mean…Goddess of Love, man?”
“……….you’re a sophist and an idiot. You know that?”
“Yep~, why do you think I’m here?”
|
NaraFox257
|
None
|
2024-04-30 17:15:27
|
2024-04-30 16:36:40
| 759 | 356 |
l1ytbl3
|
l1ymttt
|
1cgvv82
|
1eqk654
|
[WP] After being trapped in a castle guarded by a dragon for most of your teenage life you decided to take matters into your own hands and escape the castle. Soon after you decide to save other princesses who haven't been rescued by their 'brave' princes
|
I dialed the number on the napkin. When it connected to a Continental hotel I dialed the extension. I figured this was a work number and called at 10:00 AM. But now I realize it is a hotel number I am probably calling too late, or too early. Then I hear a soft click of phone receiver being picked up.
"Hello?" A confused female voice answered. She didn't sound sleepy or hungover, thankfully. Her voice was like soft velvet to my ears. I didn't recognize her, but it isn't like she is yelling over the music and din of the club.
"Oh, hi." I mutter, realizing I was distracted. "It's Mark. We met last night. You gave me your number..." I trailed off. This is the first time I had a girl give me her number at a bar. I'm really not sure where to go next.
"Sorry," her melodious voice said. "I don't remember doing that."
"Oh. Uh, well I was hoping to maybe get a chance to know you better. But if you didn't remember me then I feel a little rude intruding."
"Wait." She said. I waited with baited breath. "You're calling to ask me out on a date?"
"Yeah. Umm. Would you like to meet me for a coffee?"
"I'd love to, Mark. Can I come over?" She said.
"Sure." I answer immediately. "Yeah. Do you have a pen? I can give you my address." I wasn't expecting her to meet me at my place, but that isn't a deal breaker at all.
The line was dead. But my front door opened. In walked the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Definitely not the girl at the bar last night. But I recognize her. Like when you see an actor whose name and other roles escape you. She smiled at me and I felt my heart flutter. Her hair was red as flames, her eyes as blue as the sky. Her slim figure suited her elegant green dress like she was a model it was custom made for.
"Your place is nice." She said. It was definitely the woman I was talking to on the phone.
"Thanks." I hang up and put my phone in my pocket. I guess she is a cape with how quickly she got here. I was distinctly aware of my messy hair, old t-shirt, and ripped jeans I was wearing. She was completely out of my league. But she doesn't look disappointed or upset. She was still smiling at me.
"Wow," I said. "I didn't realize you were super. And I'm sorry I didn't get your name."
"Beth." She said. "You don't know who I am?"
"Sorry, Beth. You look familiar, but I'm really bad at names." I ran a hand through my hair self consciously. "I guess a friend of yours gave me your number. I hope I'm not disappointing. Sorry I'm under dressed."
She disappeared. I sighed. 'Did I offend her somehow?' I thought. While I was crushed at the feeling of disappointment, it only lasted a few seconds until she was back. Dressed pretty much like I was. Blue jeans with a tear at the knee. White T-shirt with the Defenders of Humanity fighting Dark Countess printed on it. The only difference was her clothes were very clearly new. The jeans still had a tag on them.
"This better?" She asked.
I couldn't help but laugh. "Wonderful. I'm sure you look good in anything."
"Thank you," she said. "And you are just as cute as you sounded on the phone."
I blushed at that, which got a giggle out of her. "How would you like your coffee?" I asked.
"I'm not really here for the coffee." She said.
I think this is the best day of my life.
|
Bailey wasn't sure this was a good idea, not like he was as the gorgeous brunette had slid her manicured hand over the bar top with a promising piece of paper - a torn out Target receipt, it seemed like - with an even more promising number jotted on it with surprisingly even handwriting.
He'd given her his most charming smile - which, to be fair, he'd been told made him look vaguely constipated - and she smirked back, tapping the paper with the tip of her index finger before straightening and sliding gracefully off the chair she'd been perched on. 'Give it a call, will you?' she'd said as she hiked her purse over her shoulder.
He'd nodded, barely believing his luck.
He'd gone home and sternly told himself he'd wait it out, then text her the following day like a normal person. But a few hours in on a Monday, the texts had all gone unsent on the other end. She did say he should call, though. Maybe she didn't text?
He stubbed out the cigarette he'd been nursing in the alley behind the office building, smoothing out his tie nervously. He really hated phone calls. But you really do miss the shots you don't take, and Bailey figured chances like these don't come up too often in life.
He pressed the innocuous "call" icon, and watched the screen as the "calling" turned to "ringing". He placed the phone to his ear, his eyes darting around the unassuming brick wall in front of him.
"Miss Paine's office."
The perky voice made Bailey frown. This woman sounded nothing like the brunette from the other night. Did she have some high rolling job? Is this a colleague? Had she just given him a random number for the hell of it?
"Hi, um..." *how did he explain this without sounding like a total loser?* "I was given this number on Saturday night by a woman with, um, brown hair. At Bo's Brews. Is this her phone?"
"I'm sorry sir, but I'm not sure what you mean. Could you give me your name please so I can look into it?"
Had he given the woman his name? He wasn't entirely sure. He'd been pretty drunk after all. Maybe he had. "It's Bailey O'Riley, miss."
The furious clacking that had been accompanying the call the entire time stopped abruptly. "I'm sorry, did you say your name was Bailey O'Riley?"
"Um, yes?"
The silence felt loud through the phone. He worried the call had disconnected, but when he looked, the timer was still running. "Hello?"
"Sir, my apologies. Let me forward you to Ms. Paine right away. Please remain on the line."
Was that her last name? Maybe he had a functioning brain after all if he at least gave her his. Though, maybe he shouldn't be calling up women he didn't know the name of.
Miss Paine. Where did he hear that name before? It rang a bell, but he couldn't be sure it was the brunette's name.
"Jessica Paine speaking." The voice on the line was not the brunette's - it was smooth, low and a bit more mature. "Bailey, is that you?"
Jessica Paine. He knew that name, but where from? "Yes?"
"Oh god, I can't believe this. And in the same area code? This whole time?"
"I-"
It hit him then, like a truck, like a freight train.
|
TricksterPriestJace
|
WhileNo5370
|
2024-07-31 14:41:55
|
2024-07-31 11:39:58
| 128 | 67 |
lftil0a
|
lfsqq0p
|
1egfhce
|
1egfhce
|
[WP] “No? Why? Because I’m a vampire?” “No… Actually, pretending you’re 21 and attending high school for eighty years is a little weird, man.”
|
Aidan (not his original name but nobody was going to take him seriously if he went by his original name Fabiolis) smoothed his blue streaked hair. It was nice to try something different.
“Why are you here, Mr. Black?” Mr. Blaine, the vice principal, sighed.
Aidan had gone to class with Mr. Blaine a generation ago. Back then, Sam Blaine wasn’t the perpetually tired parent of three teenagers. He was a slacker, deep into Nirvana and Cypress Hill. Aidan missed who Janson used to be, but he understood how practical life changed humans.
“You know why I’m here. To get an education.” Aidan did not have a perfect memory as some stories of vampires rumored, but he could have sworn he had this conversation before.
“I’m just saying, it’s kind of weird that you still need an education after all the years you’ve been alive.”
Aidan sighed, consciously mimicking Janson’s “I’m so adult” sigh. “The world changes, Mr. Blaine. Do you remember what we were taught about computers when you were growing up? Or about science or current events? I’m not one of those vampires that lurks around in dusty castles. I like to keep up.”
“Surely, you can do that at home.”
“I’d miss the personal interactions.”
“Listen,” Mr. Blaine stood up. “A lot of parents here complained about you creeping around their children. They’re afraid that you’re going to pick out a child bride. Or child cabana boy.”
“Mr. Blaine!” Aidan invoked his more imperial voice. “I don’t date children. I have no interest in dating children. I am only here for an education. I talk with students from time to time but only because it would be rude not to and sometimes we have interesting conversations. What you are insinuating is incredibly insulting and bigoted, and not something that the Sam Blaine I knew growing up would have stooped to.”
A shadow of the former (younger) Sam shrugged. “The world changes. I have three daughters now, and they’re my priority. If you ever had kids, you would understand why I wouldn’t want them around someone like -“ He stopped himself from uttering those last words.
“I would never harm your daughters or any other child unless in proportionate self defense, and you know it,” Aidan retorted. “You have had no unwarranted violent incidents with me or my den. And let’s not pretend that this is not about me lending Lisa that book on transgender teens. She knows about the books I sometimes bring to the school after the school board banned them.”
“That book,” Mr. Blaine sputtered. “You had no right-“
"And while this is only my personal assessment, I don’t think she is considering adopting a transgender identity. She is just curious about the subject because she’s heard about it on the news. If you talked to her once in a while instead of just telling her what to think, maybe you would understand it's nothing to panic about." Aidan stood up. He could no longer bear to look at his former friend.
|
...does...does my mother REALLY think I'm going to be fine with this? I mean, let's not mince words here. I love my mother, if I could have one wish in my life it's that she would always be happy, and if there's a man out there who can make her happy I'd be fine with it- but she brings THIS guy home?
"...listen, honey...you have to understand my side of the story. I've been really lonely since your father died, and Balthazar really makes me feel alive for the first time in a while..." Is my mother really saying this?
"Don't give me this, Mom, I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU. You're 73 years old! This- this is disgusting! Even if your new boyfriend was my age, I'm old enough to be fair to the guy and accept it if you're truly happy, but Balthazar- the man's young enough to be MY son! You're depraved!" Balthazar looked at me.
"Um, I thought I told you that I was a 100-plus year old vampire, if anything I'M the one robbing the cradle here..." I just scoffed.
"...you look like you're 16 and said you were in high school for 80 years. I...I can't imagine what Shane is going to say when he hears you're seeing a guy who's as young as your grandson..." My mom shook her head.
"Actually, he seemed quite okay with it last time we were down there; the vampire's mind control upon feeding really helps in that regard." I cannot believe her.
"Are you listening to yourself right now? You had your new boyfriend feed upon your own son? I hope you don't expect to make me another of his ghouls to feed upon!" My mom tried to continue to explain how this is.
"Look, honey, I know you're really neurotic and you're worried about what will happen when I'm gone. Balthazar is going to embrace me, I'll live the immortal life of a vampire, and then you'll be fine forever. And if he embraces you too, you'll get to live forever since you're so worried about what comes next. We'll all be happy!" Is...is she serious?
"...what are you talking about? Is...is this dementia kicking in early? Do I need to get power of attorney over you?" Balthazar looked over.
"I know this seems weird for you, but you'll learn to be happy. See, your mother still looked good for a woman in her seventies, and as my embrace happened she's getting younger and younger by the day. It's a great routine for your looks; half of the billionaires in the world use becoming a vampire to help them." I just shook my head.
"This...this is lunacy. It's sickening. I...wait, did you say billionaires?" Balthazar looked over.
"Well, yeah. Half of all vampires are incredibly rich. Kind of happens when you can save and invest for hundreds of mortal years."
...okay, maybe I can live with this arrangement.
|
ThornyPlantAcct
|
Spiritual_Lie2563
|
2025-02-23 23:37:07
|
2025-02-23 18:43:38
| 16 | 12 |
mefgkhk
|
medud6z
|
1iw9eqg
|
1iw9eqg
|
[WP] You're the first test subject for an experimental super soldier serum. You are told the truth only after you transform into something not quite human anymore.
|
What does it mean to be human?
I have been asking myself that a great deal lately. Is it just the body? Is it the mind? Is it the soul - if there is such a thing?
When do I stop being human and become something - other?
The war with the V’hery is going badly. Badly enough there is no hiding it from the general public.
They came with giant interstellar ships and bombed the hell out of us - but humans are resilient. We hid in bunkers, subways, basements, caves - when the bombing stopped the real war began - the ground war.
Strangely enough their soldiers don’t have much better tech then us. Unfortunately they are tougher. Skin like boiled leather - over an inch thick. Six red eyes - spaced evenly around their head. Strong as six big humans with the stamina to run flat out for twelve hours. Three big claws on each hand. Ugly as your mother.
We still had the numbers - but not for long.
What is left of the government asked for volunteers. Asked for people to become the next line of defence for Earth. They didn’t give us the details - and it didn’t matter. We were dying fast. Anything that could even *maybe* slow the V’hery advance was worth a shot.
So I volunteered.
I was the perfect choice. Family all died on the initial bombing - so no ties and no one to complain if things went wrong. I am young. I am fit. I am mad as hell.
I knew I would change. That I would be different. I just didn’t expect to look so much like - like - the enemy.
The doctors are trying to fight the V’hery with their own DNA.
I have four eyes now. Two of them can see into the infrared spectrum and into something we don’t even have a name for. My skin is thick and hard with almost no feeling to it. I sprouted retractable claws from the back of my hands like the super hero, Wolverine. They are a foot long and sharp as hell. I can bench over 2,000 lbs… not really sure exactly how much because I broke all the bars and we ran out of weights. And I can run. Like *really* run. I ran for eighteen hours straight at almost thirty miles an hour - I stopped only because the treadmill started on fire.
Of the fifty volunteers I was the lucky one. Most died. Died horribly and painfully as their body rejected the forced mutation. Most bleed out through their eyes. Scared, in pain and blinded by their own blood.
A few survived but the mutations were weak or ineffective. They were thick skinned but weak. Strong but with brittle bones. Retractable claws but they were dull or too short.
I was the one success.
Success….
Can you call it a success? Did I become the enemy so I could defeat the enemy? Did I leave my humanity behind?
People look at me with fear and terror. I fight for humanity but I am shunned by all of humanity.
The doctors rush to make more of me - fighting machines that are feared by V’hery and humans alike. But what will become of us once this war is over - once there is no more need for their tame monsters?
|
# Soulmage
**Anyone else would have questioned the number of guards around the simple bed.** Six witches, two ambassadors from the Eldritch Initiative, and four disgruntled-looking young soldiers with shortswords surrounded Iola as he sauntered towards the center of the room.
But Iola felt good about this. He always felt good—he was just an upbeat kind of person—but the power that the Eldritch Initiative had promised him was so close he could almost taste it.
Wait, no, that was blood. He'd bitten his tongue in excitement. Oh, well, it was far from the first time.
"Now be warned, the process is currently irreversible." Iola had to work around quite a few bureaucratic loops in order to get here—teenagers were *not* supposed to become experimental extradimensional entities. But the man in front of him didn't recognize Iola, and Iola didn't recognize him. "This is your last chance to back out."
The corners of Iola's lips twitched. "Things always work out for me," he said. "I'm quite happy where I am, thank you very much."
The man shrugged. "Well, a test subject is a test subject. Do you have the sample?" He asked, turning towards the ambassador.
The vaguely humanoid puppet of flesh held out... Iola craned his neck, curious. What was that, some kind of potted plant? It was gnarled and ancient and *boring*, so Iola didn't bother thinking about it any further. "You will have to perform the infection yourself, of course."
The man nodded. "For your own safety, please lie down on the—ah, there you go." He came forward, holding the potted plant. "This should only take a moment."
Iola stared at the ceiling, humming to himself, excited for the changes. Would there be a surge of strength as his muscles grew? Ooh, would he sprout razor-sharp claws and wings? Or a fire-breathing snout and powerful jaws?
But the changes were not so... physical.
The anticipation turned andric as Iola's expression contorted, the upbeat joy he constantly felt sickening into varination. Iola's eyes bulged as his neurons were rewired, the new emotions coursing through his mind as familiar and human as chyme was to water.
And then it was done. Though not a single fiber of his perfectly-combed hair was out of place, someone else looked out from behind Iola's eyes.
"Infection complete," the man reported. "Tell me, Iola. How do you feel?"
Iola worked its jaw, twisting it this way and that, until it settled into a dorceless gape.
"I feel humber," Iola said, and the pulsating of his eyes confirmed it. "I feel *good.*"
A.N.
This story is part of Soulmage, a story written in response to writing prompts. Check out the rest of the story [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/bubblewriters/comments/uxmwe4/soulmage_masterpost/), or r/bubblewriters for more.
|
escher4096
|
meowcats734
|
2023-08-06 00:47:33
|
2023-08-06 00:14:29
| 67 | 26 |
juyyrco
|
juyuk2l
|
15j8mzq
|
15j8mzq
|
[WP] “Why should I care what you think, dad? Humans only live for a hundred years if they’re lucky! Me and mom will be here for thousands!”
|
I grounded my teenage son, this didn't sit well with him, and summoned an oversized tortoise that destroyed our livingroom.
My wife was still out working, so I had to have a talk with him.
Entering his room, I saw him weightlifting his special weights...they weighed like ten tons.
"Son...
You shouldn't behave like that, and you certainly shouldn't use your powers so freely...think about the rest of us around you.", i said.
He let the weights fall, but thankfully his room was protected, and it didn't crash through the floor.
"Why?
Why should I care what you think, dad?
Humans only live for a hundred years if they're lucky! Me and mom will be here for thousands!", he exclaimed.
I smiled.
"So you don't care about your friends, with whom you game daily?", I asked.
He froze a bit.
"And how about those cute girls in your school that always look for a chance to be next to you?", I asked.
He blushed a bit.
Yep, I knew we didn't raise him to be such a cold soul, so why...oh no...
I looked at him, and sighed.
"Is one of your friends...", I muttered.
He angrily stared at me, before nodding.
"That's how life is.", is all I could say.
"But we will be here...even thousands of years later...by then...everybody...even you...", he whispered.
I sat down next to him, and hugged him.
"That's how life is, but you will not be alone. Promise me that you will never be alone.
There will be others by your side, not just your mom...
I know it's selfish from me to ask this, but please, try not to be alone.", I said to him.
He gently pushed me away, but I still fell down pretty hard.
"And what?
Go through the pain of losing my friends dozens, hundreds, thousands of times?!", he screamed.
"You are not losing them...
They are simply moving onto the next step, you should know this better than anyone on this planet...death, is not a stop.", I said.
"But it's still painful! To see them wither away!", he cried.
I hugged him again.
"Be with them. Support them. Remember them. Be better for them.
Honor them with your actions, be someone they can be proud of.", I said.
He pushed me away again, and stormed out...
As I walked down, I saw my wife pouting in the doorway...where a door should have been.
"Teenagers...", she smiled.
I nodded, and brought her up to speed, she just shrugged and kissed me.
"Good job, even I couldn't have done it better.
He might go through a hermit phase down the line for a few decades maybe, but he will come around...
So, what do you want for dinner?", she asked, going to the kitchen.
I smiled and told her whatever she wants is fine, thinking how was I so lucky to have such a family...
|
"Keith, buddy! Looking good man!"
Keith grinned, glistening white teeth bared in a smile that would put hollywood actors to shame, his blond curly hair framing his face like a cloud.
"Same for you Joseph! Look at you! Man i just love those tats!"
Joseph smiled as he flexed his arms, his tattoos rippling as his titanic muscles stretched. He looked like an 80's action hero. Almost conan like.
"Are you two nitwits done flexing your good lucks?" A soft lilting voice called out from behind them.
Keith and Joseph both turned, and their jaws dropped.
"Sarah!?" They both shouted in amazement.
Sarah stood in front of them, slender and lithe, long blood red hair trailing down to her hips, pointed ears peeking through the locks. Her arms and stomach bare to the world and rippling with taut sinuous muscles, designed for speed and agility.
Another voice broke in, gruff and gutteral, but filled with humor.
"Yeh, yeh, we all knows ya got da guds sarah, no needz ta show it off"
The three heroes turned to behold the newest addition to their party.
Joseph groaned in despair.
"Aw come on man! Connor You're muscles are bigger than mine!"
Connor grinned, his tusks jutting out from his lower lip.
"That's cuz i'm an ORK ya git! Wez be ded killy!"
Sarah raised her delicate eyerbrows.
"Warhammer ork or tolkien?"
connors response was a simple yet loud
"WAAAAAGH!"
the elf rolled her eyes.
"Noted"
Keith looked about, concern in his eyes.
"Where is turner?"
"I dunno, maybe he is taking his time?"
"He always liked to get things right, be patient."
"He got dat kool mind tho, boy gonna be crazy, calling it"
The conversation cut off as footsteps approached. Heavy and slow, almost leisurely. As the footsteps drew closer, a low repeating sound made itself known.
*ksssh kuhhh*
*ksssh kuhhk*
Joseph's eyes widened in recognition and excitement.
"No fucking way."
An imposing, dark figure appeared at the top of the stairs, his form unmistakable. The electronic breathing a dead giveaway.
Sarah took a temptive step foward.
"Turner?"
The helmet of the figure turned to look down at her, it's glossy black eyes locked onto hers.
"Sarah, your form suits you."
Connor stepped forward, his grin massive and terrifyingly wide.
"I 'ad a feeling yous would go for 'im! Told ya guys he was gonna be crazy! HAH!"
Turner looked at his friends, and smiled behind his mask.
This world wouldn't know what hit it.
|
TheWanderingBook
|
Adeptus_idioticus
|
2024-08-14 16:31:41
|
2023-02-27 09:52:15
| 82 | 24 |
mwfmhgx
| null |
1l5aqna
|
11ctaxn
|
[WP]: You wake up in the afterlife with no memory of how you died. Most people there seem to be wearing the clothes they had at the time of death. You are wearing an elaborate dog costume and a bullet proof vest.
|
52, 34, 2, 16, 47, 20, 4. The numbers blinked in and out of existence, leaving only a ghastly after-image as their tombstone. They appeared and vanished over pedestrians heads as they passed by the coffee shop, unbeknownst to their host human. They were bright, rapid, and fleeting, like camera flashes from a red carpet premier on a dark night. Like fireflies used to be, back before climate change and shady pest control chemicals had disrupted their beautiful summer dances. I had seen the numbers back then too, but I had been too young to describe them to the grown-ups. Even if I could have, they would have brushed my concerns aside faster than the numbers winked in and out.
21, 41, 74, 67, 11, 17. Gone before I could even realize they were there, just a faded aqua or maybe teal color imprint left on the surface of my mind. Hiding behind my pupils, dancing along my optic nerve in mockery of the Fireflies of my childhood. The numbers twisted and wobbled in the air, like a building seen through a heat haze. They...
2, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99...
I paused my sip of the overpriced, burnt coffee in confusion. I had never seen the numbers do this. They stopped fluctuating wildly, all seeming to settle on the same pair of digits. 99. 99. 99. Each man, woman, and child showed that number in a sudden uniformity from the chaos. 99. 99. 99.
I felt the cute barista's stare before I realized she had spoken to me. I ran a hand through my hair and forced a sheepish apology grin before speaking.
"I'm sorry, I was daydreaming there. What did you say?"
"I asked if you wanted a refill, hun" the barista asked, "on the house. Seems like you've got somethin' you need to work through here."
I sighed. If only she knew the truth. "Sure, thank you." I said, glancing briefly above her head to see the number 1 for an equally brief moment.
I turned back to the pedestrians as she left. The number was an exact copy across all people, all ages and race and genders. Nothing seemed amiss from their expressions, their gait, their conversations. It was like nothing at all had changed for them, all except that number above their head...
"Here you go, hun" the Barista said, sliding a fresh cup into my hand. I glanced up with a quick smile, and returned my gaze quickly after a double take. Her number wasn't 99, like all the others...
It was 1.
The number pulsed like a lighthouse, instead of fading like the others. It was a solid, vibrant display of a phantom digit, shining brightly and invitingly.
"Did you need someone to talk to, hun?" she asked. "I get off my shift here in a half hour, if you'd..."
I smiled. "I would like that, thank you. My name's Steven"
She grinned and pointed at her name tag. "Stacey. Nice to meet 'ya, Steven."
I watched Stacy wander back to the bar, passing dozens of 99's as her glowing 1 shoved inferior numbers aside like Moses parting the red sea. Her number left a faint red trail in her wake, a glittering cloud of etherial confetti planting memories of where she had been mere moments before.
I smiled, and took a sip of the fresh coffee Stacy had brought. It was nice, smooth, almost velvety in its thick richness. It was the most wonderful beverage I had ever had the pleasure of tasting. A smile creeped on my face as I finally realized what the numbers meant, what I was searching for my whole life.
I had found her. Stacy was my one.
/r/SlightlyColdStories
|
"Jo, what are you staring at?"
That's the first thing I remembered my mum saying. She would look back to the direction my eyes fixed on, and tousle her velvety black hair. With a voice trembling, she came back to my attention and held my hands.
"Nothing mama." I lied. Her clear emerald eye reflected my poker face, which I kept for 30 years.
The truth is, I can view mysterious data above their heads. Some go up and down in frequency of days, some come in seconds.
It isn't about emotion: Fear and happiness appeared to have the same amplitude sometimes, but it was mostly coincidence.
It isn't about death. My dad left me when his number was still large while another patient dying next to him got 0.
But I know that the maximum is 100, and I only met one who reached it until it went to 0.
"Love you." She kissed my cheek before clapping close the door. I smiled and returned to the kitchen, wrapping the leftovers for tomorrow's dinner.
Her name was Suiyi. We lived together for 30 years. I still remembered the first day she went to school with a red school bag almost as big as her upper body, and her coffee brown eyes gleamed under the sun, gazing around to find me.
"Aunt Jo!" she waved at me, there is the number 100 on top of her head.
We met each other in an orphanage, when I was a volunteer in Vietnam during wartime. She was desperate to leave that hell like place, and I was of course, had a strong sense of belonging during my young years.
"Do you want a shower?" Her body was covered with a thick layer of dirt and sweat. She nodded, so I unrobed her, brushing away the past behind her. There, a number 10 floated on her head.
Then, it popped to 15, to 20.
It simply...went up.
It never went down.
I raised my brows when brushing her hair behind her. She was avoiding my sights, but throwing glances on my face.
I then arranged meetings with the owner of the orphanage, who was always zoning out of the conversation, so I slammed the paper on the table, and took the little girl back to Japan.
Despite the language barrier, she blended in quickly, made friends at school, explored the community and found her passion.
I never considered myself a good parent. I tried, like most of the others, my best to be better. But they're still flaws in my decisions, especially the ones that I made for Suiyi.
As she grew up, she got cocky and arrogant from time to time. We often had fights, but the number never went down.
On the last day, I was lying on the bed, suffering from the same sickness that caused my father's life, I asked Suiyi, "What did the doctor say?"
That was the first time I saw her number go to 0
She smiled and said, "You are going to fine..."
"That's not true." I thought.
My throat was already sore.
I closed my eyes and raised my bony right hand. She caught it, buried her forehead onto it and sobbed.
I opened up my palm, holding a USB. She held it tight, plugged it into her phone and watched it til the end.
"Dear Suiyi, thank you for being my daughter, my companion my friend throughout my short life. I have told you a secret one I have held since I was a child..." My limbs went cold, my mind started to fade away.
Suiyi hugged me, the only warmth I could feel before My last breath.
"Sleep tight, mom..."
|
SlightlyColdWaffles
|
bernice_hk
|
2023-07-17 19:47:24
|
2023-07-17 16:35:15
| 47 | 26 |
jsd0grr
|
jsc68oj
|
151vosh
|
151vosh
|
[WP] "One drip of this poison is enough to kill a whale." The scientist points towards a table, but the beaker isn't there. Instead a silly coffee cup shaped like a beaker sits. You lower the not coffee cup from your mouth. Tastes like lemon-lime.
|
"Wait, it what?"
That I had made an embarrassing mistake nearly went without saying. That the scientists washed their dishes with the lab equipment, this mistake *couldn't* go without saying, so I said it:
"I told you that your unsafe lab practices would be the death of me, Mike."
Mike and I had been good friends for ages, and I knew that he must feel horrible, so it was nice to be able to get him to chuckle, as teary-eyed as he was getting.
"You son of a bitch, you just had to get one more joke in, didn't you?" He let out an odd noise that sounded like a sigh trying to hold back a sob. "How do you feel, Bill? Is there any pain?"
"No," I lied. I was getting a splitting headache, and the ringing in my ears alone was almost painful. There was another feeling, an odd not-quite-lightheadedness, not-quite-dizziness that I couldn't quite put a finger on...it wasn't painful, but it felt like I was walking in a deep fog. Everything felt heavy. I needed a nap. But, in spite of everything, my curiosity, which was apparently enough to kill a whale, rather than a cat, compelled me to ask.
"So, how does this poison work, again?"
Maybe it would be good, for Mike, to focus on the science, for a moment, instead of his dying friend. If I could do that much, maybe it would be worth it.
He pinched the bridge of his nose between his forefinger and thumb. "So, we know that whales' brains sleep one half at a time, right? While we were researching cetacean intelligence, trying to unlock the potential of their brains, we discovered that this compound had the unfortunate side effect of synching up both halves of their brains. When exposed, they would fall asleep -- completely -- and drown. It only took one drop, no matter which species. It..."
I didn't hear the rest of his explanation, as everything faded away.
---
I woke up a short time later, on a stretcher in the back of an ambulance. It was a good thing that we were headed to the hospital, as I think I gave the poor paramedic a heart attack. I suppose I should be grateful he didn't try to bash my brains out.
Mike met us at the hospital, absolutely beside himself in relief. Neither of us were the hugging sort, but this felt like one of those situations where an exception could be made.
"I...I don't understand it. Don't take this the wrong way, Bill, but why are you alive?"
It was my turn to laugh. It felt great, and I felt more refreshed, more alive than I had in years. I supposed that dying might do that to a fellow, or maybe just the deepest, soundest sleep I had experienced in years. "I don't think that poison works the same way for humans, since both halves of our brains normally sleep at the same time. Though, I guess it is a good thing I wasn't in a pool."
|
"Did you....?"
He looked down at his hand.
"I guess I did."
Her face went white. Slowly, timidly, she stepped towards him, gesturing to the chair she just got up from. She helped him sit down. Everyone else stood frozen in place, not believing what they'd just seen. He appreciated them not freaking out, but somehow this was worse. The dim hum of the projector, the pale glow of the PowerPoint they had been presenting. Those were the last things he would experience?
Some brave soul from the back ventured a suggestion. Should they call emergency services?
"I think there's no use," she said. "He drank, like, half of it."
He didn't like that comment, since it made him sound stupid, but it was accurate. Half the beaker was now empty. It was pretty tasty, though. He could still taste it. The thing he couldn't believe was that he'd taken several sips without even noticing.
He looked back at his hand, no longer holding the beaker.
"How long?" he said, his voice now starting to quiver.
She furrowed her brow. Something was off, she thought. He should be dead already, not that that was something she wanted. Just strange. She told him so.
"Then how am I still alive?"
"Honestly, I have no idea. How do you feel?"
Someone in the back said something again, possibly the same guy as before. She told him to shut up.
"Open your mouth."
He did.
"How are you just fine? You drank way more than a drop."
Her tone was more one of bewilderment than relief, he noted, but he was still thankful for her words. He licked the inside of his mouth. It was kind of sticky, but the taste was beginning to fade. She kept looking at him like he was some sort of alien microbe on a microscope slide, but he still felt fine. Someone said something in audience once more, which they both promptly ignored.
"You said a drop of this could kill a whale?"
"Not could," she reiterated, "would. Definitely would've already."
"I drank, like a half a beaker. Like 50 milliliters. How many drops is that?"
"What?" she asked, not understanding.
"You said a drop would kill a whale. How many drops did I have? 50?"
She pondered this for a second.
"That's not how it works. You can't drink more poison and get less of an effect. That doesn't even make sense."
"And yet..." he posited.
There was silence once more. Well, except for the hum of the projector. He faced towards the crowd again. The high school gym, full of students. He suddenly felt very self-conscious. Everyone was looking at him.
"Anyway," he said, springing up again to continue the presentation, "this stuff is really dangerous, huh!?"
|
Mr_E_Monkey
|
lululit
|
2023-02-28 19:08:56
|
2023-02-28 16:52:01
| 128 | 72 |
jadxa1b
|
jadbij5
|
11e4oe5
|
11e4oe5
|
[WP] A mind reader decides to try to play with you, but little does he know you have ADHD and the moment he enters you mind he's gonna get lost in a web of absolutely absurd racing thoughts.
|
Hell was, to put it bluntly, boring.
I was dead, I was in hell, because it turns out not believing in a god who has not a single shred of evidence for existance is worth eternal punishment.
Manipulative bastard.
I don't know how long I was dead. There's no time in hell. There's no space either. Everything happens when it happens. It also happens where it happens. There's a lot of perception between events.
You look around, and it's grey. You're standing on something, but you can't see what it is. Apart from grey. It feels solid, but perfectly smooth, like a cheap one triangle video game texture.
There's lots of other people here. Most are tortured with boredom. You walk, you find them, they're miserable and bored, you leave.
The first breakthrough I had was realising there is no space and no time. Which means I could be anywhere. So I went to Lucifer Morningstar.
"Welcome to hell. Did you know only one in ten thousand work out that?"
"What's the point?"
"Philosophy? Very well. The point is..."
"No. I mean, this place has a purpose. A purpose that isn't hindered by allowing us to move around, or meet you. It's not confinement."
The devil looked impressed. "You are a bright one. Very well. It's a place of repentance. You must finish seven impossible tasks decided by your seven greatest sins. Four people have made it out so far."
"Right. So what are they?"
"No."
"No?"
"No."
I blinked, then smiled. Was it really that simple? It had to be. "The first task is to work out the other six tasks."
And for the first time, Lucifer looked worried.
|
After saying all this, the secretary demon lifted a clipboard from a drawer. Attached to it: a single form, like something one might fill out in a doctor's office. "Now please list your sins in order of severity," she said.
Chas studied the form. "Wouldn't you guys already know my sins?"
"Our system's backed up." She massaged the horned bridge of her nose. "Just fill out the form and bring it back when you're done."
The form was on official Hell letterhead. "What happens if I don't put anything down?" Chas asked.
The secretary demon didn't seem to hear him as she dealt herself another round of solitaire.
Chas turned the form over. There was more on the back. "What's this section? 'Fears and Phobias?'"
She cleared her throat, wheezing into a napkin. "Whatever you put will be ground into a slurry and force-fed to you."
"Well shit, I guess I won't put anything."
"You have to put something."
At the bottom of the back side of the paper was a mailing address. AMALGAMATED PUNISHMENT SOLUTIONS, LUBBOCK, TX.
Chas turned the form back over. "A slurry, you say? But isn't a clown or a spider scarier if it's NOT ground up?"
She made a quick note on her MacBook. "I'll put you down for clowns and spiders," she said.
[jaywilcoxwriter.net](https://www.jaywilcoxwriter.net/)
[my subreddit ](https://www.reddit.com/r/JWORX_531/)
|
LeVentNoir
|
JWORX_531
|
2024-08-29 23:19:13
|
2024-08-29 19:39:14
| 278 | 64 |
lkl4moj
|
lkjzyuk
|
1f46v6z
|
1f46v6z
|
[WP] A married couple secretly invent time travel. They travel back to 50 BC, but the portal takes them to different locations on earth. This is the story of how they found each other.
|
We had journeyed long to get to where we were. The trek through interstellar space was a hard one, fraught with peril. We at least had a goal in mind, a system not too unlike our own. Noticeably different of course. But there was what we could tell was a habitable planet. With no other options we started the process of discovery, from mere observation to sending the fastest probe we had devised yet to scout ahead so a manned trip would not be in vain.
After all the results had come back positive and funding was secured, work began on the capital ship to end all capital ships, a massive spacefaring frigate that was meant to carry a lot of people to a new home. We set off and made our way.
It had been a long time since the initial reports to be sure. But it couldn't possibly have been that long. When we stepped off the ship on the new world, our new world. We were overjoyed at the abundant fauna, and the vibrant animal life and the crisp, clean air.
So imagine our confusion when not long after our first arrival, one of our survey teams reported an unusual sight, deep in the verdant woods. It seemed to all accounts to be a chunk of concrete, with heavily rusted rebar inlaid within...
Further investigation revealed a whole pile of it nearby. What we thought was a circular rocky plateau from the distance of space seemed by all accounts to be piles and piles of decayed rubble, chunks of corroded metals and smoothed scatterings of glass, the expanse seemed to stretch on for miles.
Everything at the initial landing site was stopped, people were too curious for their own good. The sight of something like this is not too dissimilar to a page out of a post apocalyptic disaster movie. Everyone had to have a look, picking through the rubble like ants looking for grains of sugar on a picnic table.
It all culminated when we found the bunker, or what was left of it anyhow. Easy to miss, it was just a crag in the ground hidden by a rather large block, as if it was thrown there by a giant.
The panic was almost impossible to control after the initial discovery of the suit or the skeleton within too. Poor guy looked like he had been crushed by the impact. Wedged between the point of the rock and the wall. The thick yellow suit was the only thing that had kept his bones together. A man, or woman upon closer inspection. Not one of us, but unmistakably a person.
We were all so caught up in conquering virgin land, and so damn curious about the unexpected. All the while nobody had thought to bring a geiger counter.
|
Jack lifted his foot.
“Don’t.” Head researcher Marissa said.
“Why not?” Jack asked.
“Don’t, Jack, you don’t know what it could be.” Marissa said.
Jack brought his foot down with rapidity, stopping inches from the panel. He snickered as the other researchers recoiled.
“Jack, I’m serious, do you want to get sent back to earth? This is not funny. Stop.” Marissa said, regaining her composure.
Jack immediately retracted his foot, wiped the smirk off his face, and looked sullenly at the ground.
“No, ma’am.” He mumbled into the floor.
“Address me.” Marissa said.
Jack looked at her.
“No, ma’am.” Jack mumbled. “Sorry, ma’am, I was just fooling around.”
Marissa softened slightly, seeing her own children in Jack, remembering what it was like to be twenty and headstrong.
“It’s okay, Jack.” Marissa patted his arm. “We are happy to joke around, just not if the magnitude could actually be serious. This wasn’t a joke, it was borderline a threat.”
Jack’s face could not have been more void of a smile, as he knew what happened to those that were deemed… unruly on another planet.
Marissa was practically the judge, jury, and executioner. Jack could still remember what happened to the last man deemed a traitor. He still had nightmares.
“Understood, ma’am.” Jack said. “Again, deepest apologies. I just didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”
Marissa looked happy until the last sentence, during which her face screwed up like she had eaten a raw lemon.
“You didn’t think it was a big deal? Honestly, soldier, why are you here? How did you get credentialed, boy?” Marissa said.
Jack’s face flushed a deep crimson.
“Uh, well, you see… my dad is John Torno.” Jack said.
“Ohhhh, I get it.” Marissa raised her voice, yelling to her mates. “Hey, boys, we got a nepo baby! Make sure he feels welcome!”
Embarrassment shifted to anger rather rapidly.
He once again hefted his leg and felt sickening pleasure as Marissa’s face contorted in horror.
He brought down his foot with force, landing squarely on the old landmine, which he was beyond certain would not function.
Sadly, that marks the end of humanity’s first mission to XHS67B. The second mission was launched four years later.
Their first order of business was cleaning up after the nuclear fallout, as the landmine had been of nuclear caliber.
|
None
|
None
|
2023-05-17 01:23:20
|
2023-05-16 21:08:25
| 176 | 60 | null | null |
5f5vbh
|
2l8prd
|
[WP] The protagonist picks up a cursed sword, which simply convinces them to pick up an expensive and time-consuming hobby. This hobby drains their time, energy, and wealth more efficiently than any cursed item.
|
I wandered past the various curios in the strange shop, until I saw it. Gleaming steel, with an oddly curved pommel, the cross guard sharp and disjointed. The sword was terrible, and strange. I had to have it.
"Excuse me sir?" I said, flagging down a salesperson. "How much for the sword?"
"Oh, that? Forty nine ninety nine," the older man immediately replied, having had no need to check.
"Sold. Can I get that in a bag?"
"Certainly sir. Right this way." The salesperson took down the sword and sheathed it, and brought it to the counter. A few minutes later I had exited the shop with my new purchase. I probably should have headed home at that point, or at least to my car so I wasn't wandering the mall carrying a sword, but my eyes were drawn to another store; one I had never paid attention to before.
"What's Games Workshop?" I thought, and headed inside.
|
Master Bob been up in the store. He picked up the sword an he been like this is nice. Then all suddenly the sword been like you be needing a wife.
Master Bob been like I ain’t no swords could be talking an things like that but the sword made sass talk an said yes I can be speaking.
Then master Bob been like I is the best. Athen he been like I is the king of sleazy stuff an things like that. So Bob done fount hisself a wife.
Then he buyed her some titties an some shoes an some dresses an a mercedes bent an he be spending his money up. An he got her hair an her nails did too. Then they made a baby.
The End.
|
Bevroren
|
MyNameBeSerdryfusToo
|
2023-05-22 12:46:20
|
2023-05-22 11:44:34
| 237 | 16 |
jl5ed4r
|
jl57qum
|
13on8ol
|
13on8ol
|
[WP] As you tuck your daughter into bed, she tells you that there's a monster in her closet. Thinking she's just being a kid, you open the closet to show her there's nothing there, but you instead find your daughter who tells you that there's someone in her bed.
|
"Refill, hon?"
I held out my mug with a smile and replied, "You're a peach, Tina."
Tina the waitress topped off my coffee before stepping out from behind the counter with an order of chicken and waffles. "So, heard you threw down with Kestrel yesterday. What happened there?"
I chuckled through a mouthful of hashbrowns. "Guy tried to make off with a black-footed ferret from a national park the next state over. Knocked the bastard out of the sky and returned the little fuzzy thing back home."
Tina cackled in the middle of dropping off the order. "A ferret? Really??"
With a shrug, I answered, "It's an endangered species, and folks will pay through the nose for exotic pets. Honestly, I feel like just getting a standard ferret from a pet store and putting dye on its paws would've been much less of a hassle."
"Well hey now, don't give me any ideas. Last thing I need is for you to take me down to the station."
"Oh please, like I'd do anything to risk my access to Johnny's pancakes."
Johnny saluted me through the hole to the kitchen as I savored my cup of joe, the steam fogging up my glasses in the way I liked. But no sooner had I fallen into a state of serenity did a resounding *BOOM* echo in the far distance, followed shortly by a column of emerald light right in the middle of the street. With an exasperated sigh, I turned around to see a seven-foot tall titan in black and red armor, clutching a woman in tattered silver robes by the throat as several other people in costumes lay scattered about with bruises aplenty.
Tina poked her head up and confusedly remarked, "What the hell're the Headliners doing here?"
I put a twenty on the counter and pushed a tiny button on my glasses, covering the lenses in a high-strength windshield. "Guess my break's over."
I stepped out of the diner just as Sun Sage was thrown at me. I slowed her down to about a quarter-mile an hour before grabbing her, setting her on the ground and asking, "Fill me in, if you'd be so kind."
Sage looked at me with annoyance before responding, "He's called the Black Beast. He's a gladiatorial champion from the other end of the Andromeda galaxy. I tried teleporting him and the Headliners to an unpopulated area, but the spell got interrupted and we ended up here. Goes without saying, but you're not a match for him."
"Yeah yeah, big man's gonna get his teeth kicked clean through his skull, but what can he do exactly? Any sort of healing factor?"
"No. Seriously, Clutch, leave this to the profes--"
I flicked Sage's ear. "My town, Sunny. I handle this."
I left Sage and strolled up to the Black Beast as he lifted Machinist by the head. I tapped his leg a few times and whistled loudly. "Son, I'm gonna have to ask you to let go of the man."
Black Beast whipped around and looked down at me with an obvious sneer in his tone as he growled, "And who exactly are you, little girl? Another wannabe hero?"
"Name's Clutch. I'm not the law around here, but I do have a vested interest in making sure this place stays standing."
Black Beast dropped Machinist on the ground and turned to face me. "I've beaten the greatest warriors from seven different galaxies. I have cracked open meteors with a single strike. My armor is forged by the flames of a dying star and christened with the blood of my father. What can you possibly hope to do?"
I smirked. "Well, since you asked so nicely."
A sound like ball bearings in a sack split the air. Black Beast looked down and saw ice rapidly spreading along his legs like a hungry parasite. "How are you --"
*BANG BANG BANG*
Black Beast fell to the ground screaming as three bullets tore through his legs, shattering them like glass. I blew away the smoke from my revolver and holstered it before touching Black Beast's forehead with a cheeky, "Annnnd pause!"
Black Beast froze in place, his scream getting cut off as I fished a piece of bubble gum from my jacket and turned around to face a bewildered Sage. "I can hold that for about an hour, so you better get something to hold this guy."
Sage glanced between me and Black Beast rapidly before slowly asking, "What did you...do?"
"Slowed down the molecules in his body until he froze, and then put his body into a neutral state so he can't move under his own power."
"How--but you--you just make bullets fly faster!!"
I grinned and popped the gum in my mouth. "Now where'd you get the *crazy* idea bullets was all I could affect?"
|
When my daughter was one year old she refused to go near the closet in her room. If someone was carrying her, she would throw a fit trying to get away. We tried to reason that it's just a kid being a kid. She would grow up. But it got worse.
*
When she was two she started to sneak out of her room and into ours in the middle of the night. She hadn't started speaking yet, the doctor said that some children started speaking later, so she couldn't tell us why. She always looked so desperate to stay that we couldn't refuse. We tried a few times, but she started to shake so violently that we felt like the worst parents.
One night I told her to sleep with her mom in our room and I will sleep in hers, she started gesturing wildly, every movement of her little limbs conveyed fright. She kept pointing at our closet and I thought she was afraid of something in it. So after she went to sleep I went to her to check her closet. As expected there was nothing but her stuff. It was just a child's imagination running wild.
But I decided we needed to see the doctor again.
But the sessions were fruitless. She kept looking at the doctor then at us then bowed her head, clamping her lips shut.
I knew my baby was suffering and it broke me to pieces not knowing why or how to take care of it.
*
When she was three, she started speaking. Her voice was like a music made just for us. She had started to get better. She slept in her room mostly. But once in a while I thought I saw her in the middle of the night checking on us.
Why?
*
When she was four she finally asked me if monsters were real. I answered they were and her eyes grew wide. I explained that most monsters were just bad people. They weren't different, just bad.
She nodded then asked me to check her room for monsters. Terror gripped me. Had someone been in my baby's room? Had she been hurt? I stopped my train of thoughts from going bad to worse. I needed to assure my daughter that she was safe not to drive myself into a frenzy.
I smiled softly. "Of course, honey."
I looked under her bed, near her toys, and the bathroom.
"All clear." I said. "No monsters."
"The closet." Her voice was barely above a whisper. Her face was white.
Hair was standing at the back of my neck as I moved closer to the closet. I looked back to assure my daughter but she was holding herself so stiffly as if a wrong move would break her.
I open the door and the air whooshes out of me as if I've been sucker punched. My daughter is standing in the middle of the closet looking terrified.
"There's someone on my bed, daddy." She whispered terrified.
I look back and see my daughter looking at herself, then at me. She shook her head violently. "I'm me. I promise. I-"
She was hyperventilating. Forgetting about the echo I saw, I turned to calm my daughter when I heard a low cry of pain. My daughter, or her echo or whatever it was, was sitting at the floor crying in fear, a little puddle of water had formed below her. She had peed herself in terror.
She looked at me, then shook her head. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
"No-" I choked out.
I was torn between my daughter. I knew something sinister was happening but what I didn't know. I looked at the bed and then at the closet. One was looking at me with pleading eyes and othe other was staring at herself in fear. And I knew. I just knew. I turned to run towards my daughter but a sudden chill had overtaken the room.
I felt a sharp pain in my chest. I heaved as I clutched my heart, the scream of my daughter calling for me.
"No!" My daughter cried.
"I told you what would happen if you told them." A static-y voice was resonating in the room.
"I'm sorry." My daughter cried.
I wanted to move closer to my daughter but I couldn't move. The pain was so blinding that I fell on my knees. I tried to crawl, I had to save my daughter but the pain was so overbearing that I knew I was a few seconds away from passing out.
"Honey, what's taking- what the hell!" I hear my wife's voice through the cold mist.
There was a yell and a demonic scream pierced through the night. The last thing I saw before I passed out was my wife swinging a poker at the echo.
Our daughter was safe. For now.
|
jardanovic
|
iknowthisischeesy
|
2024-01-07 21:07:06
|
2023-06-25 20:16:19
| 795 | 67 | null |
jpi824n
|
190yicv
|
14ipem3
|
[WP] The men in your family die the moment they turn 18, due to a curse cast on one of your ancestors by a witch. You turned 18 a week ago and are still living, and as a result a descendant of the witch has arrived to figure out why you didn't die.
|
It has been a few days since my 18th birthday, almost a week in fact. This is something that was not supposed to happen. Which is why an ancient enemy has decided to meet me.
“Well speak of the devil, you’re actually still alive.” A young feminine voice from behind me said.
“Amen to that.” I say as I turn to look back, taking a bite out of my green tea flavored ice cream. I guess not all witches are old hags.
“No god could have saved you from that curse, none of the new ones anyway.” She says as she sits down.
“I know, is that why you still practice the magic of the old gods? Just how long do you think that chronomany will keep you going? Not even the god of time himself would be able to undo his own death.”
“Is that what you used? Chronomancy? To extend your own life you would reach into the realms of dark magic?” She said with a smirk as she drank from the cup of coffee she came to the ice cream shop with. “That’s pathetic.”
“Ha, no no none of that, that is what your ancestors did to try and keep your old gods alive after they were done with their own civil war.” I say as I lean forward. “What was pathetic was using your dying god’s power to curse my entire bloodline, knowing we would not be able to fight off divine magic without our own god.”
“And yet here you are. That curse was meant to kill off your bloodline centuries ago.”
“Chronomancy, funny thing is, you can only ever use it to extend the life of a god. Based on some math, your god died decades ago, and so should have that curse. But it did not.” I say as I take another bite from my ice cream. “Your ancestors turned your god into a divine item. Your god might be dead, but his power, his magic still remains.”
“Which brings us back to you.” She responds. “Divine magic of this caliber doesn’t wear off, it cannot be undone by any of the new gods, they are too weak. How are you still alive?”
“It’s quite simple actually, I’m immortal.”
“What?”
“Divine magic can be a pain in the ass sometimes. I knew attaining immortality using non-divine methods would not allow me to survive past 18. So I continued what my ancestors did, I collected ancient runes, runes from the old gods. The divine magic of an old god can only be undone by another old god, because the new gods lack so much power. But there was not enough to undo this curse, but there was enough for me to ascend.”
I see her tremble. Her eyes start to glow a dark red, darkness begins to surround her. “You brought it here didn’t you? Knowing that I would be here.” Her ring flares to life. “So I brought insurance.”
“That ring, I see.” I say as I stand up, her energy pushes my ice cream off its cone. “Damn it, I wanted to finish that.”
“Even an immortal being can be killed by divine magic, as such are the power of gods. What is your weapon of choice? What item have you bound your god to?”
“Item?” I say as I push my glasses up. “You’re looking at him.” I say as I surround myself in a bright yellow glow. “Your curse ends with me, for divine curses cannot be placed on gods.”
|
# "To be Alive"
​
1/?
Some people are just, really unlucky. Maybe it’s an innate thing, maybe it’s just a bunch of dice rolls, but as unlucky as you may feel, you probably can’t compare the curse put on my family what was probably eons ago.
See, if this is a fairytale, it’s a Brothers Grimm one. The story that my family told was that long before any of us were born, and they mean long ago, our ancestor pissed off a witch. How? That’s the thing, all we had to go off of was his recounting of the events in a book he kept, and how he tried to help the poor maiden by lending her a room for the night, only to get cursed for his supposed generosity.
But that’s probably not how it went. He was a notorious liar and would try to sink his teeth into any women he saw, and it’s more likely he saw an opportunity to get an easy score. That’s something that ran in the family, since if you’re going to die before 18 why not be a total fucking scumbag towards women?
That’s the kicker. On our 18th birthday, all men in the family die gruesome deaths. The women are always fine, but the men are born with a timer. It’s never instantly when they turn 18 either, it always only happens when their grisliest death is possible. Bludgeoned by a falling brick, burnt to a crisp in their sleep because of an electrical fire, finding yourself in the wrong place in the wrong time, all just a couple of the tamer ways to go out, and if the only option, a simple heart attack does the job.
I remember when I was younger and was told I’d die when I was 18. It was my sixth birthday, which didn’t really mean anything since my parents never celebrated them. They also never really did, anything. They didn’t bother to even send me to school, just enroll me. You can imagine what that says about the rest of my life. I always felt jealous of the other students who had homemade lunches, or parents who would pick them up from school, or fucking *had* parents in the first place.
My family was… not a good one. My father was a hard man who’d spent time in the army, and he’d tried to whip me into being the most ideal son one could ask for. He never actually whipped me though, he preferred using his hands. He was a hard man.
It should also go without saying that as I grew up, I grew lonely. I just kept growing to the age of fifteen. Everyone I would come to know would quickly avoid me when figuring out who my parents were, if they didn’t already know.
Everyone except him.
The only one who ever really mattered.
​
\-----------------------
This is part 1, and it's mostly a prologue. I've also added part 2 where things start to, yknow, get to the interesting part.
There will be more parts to come! Lengthier than part 1, too. Probably.
Thanks for giving me the courage to post this! Specifically to u/OrionsBoob, u/Bazrum, u/Meraziel, and u/agentronin316!
|
firestrom8265
|
Evelyn_Of_Iris
|
2023-04-21 11:55:00
|
2023-04-21 09:01:36
| 106 | 12 |
jh4tijz
|
jh4fpra
|
12te9f1
|
12te9f1
|
[WP] “Your superpower is: you can converse with exactly three people who have passed away.” “I choose Albert Einstein, George Washington, and my late father” “that’s only two, you can choose one more”.
|
"What do you mean?"
"Albert Einstein and George Washington were the same person." The genie said
"That makes literally no sense. Even less sense than this nonsense instead of getting 3 wishes."
"Do you not want the powers kid?"
"No I do." Sam mumbled.
"That's what I thought, now who else would you like to talk to."
Sam thought for a moment, "Alexander the Great."
"Did Djenny put you up to this?" The genie asked, looking much less mystical now.
"Put me up to what?"
"Alexander the Great is also the same person. Listen I'm on probation as it it, I really can't be messing around," the Genie explained, looking around and pulling back pockets of air to check in other dimensions. Presumably for Djenny.
"So is it like a reincarnation thing?" Sam asked.
"Of course not, he just found a different Genie."
"So is he still alive?"
The genie sighed, "Would I be able to put you in contact with him if he were? He was killed. Mortals, they never listen. The guild blames me for the reputation we have."
"Ok," sam said. "Link me up to whoever killed him then."
The genie's face warped into a sadistic smile, he looked up and said, "I did nothing to trick him, I haven't broken any rules." Suddenly he was gone.
\--------
"Sam, is that you?" a familiar voice said.
"Dad!" Sam shouted tearing up.
"Looks like I'm gonna be your new roommate. I signed a contract and I'll be living in your head for a good chunk of time. Don't worry I won't spend all my time with ya, I got an afterlife of my own. By the way, who my new coworkers gonna be?"
"Funny story about that."
\_\_\_\_\_\_
The rest of the day went incredibly smoothly, Sam grabbed lunch and they caught up. Apparently the other spirits would be arriving one at a time to avoid melting Sam's brain. Which meant some quality time with the old man.
They went to the flea market where the advantages of the new powers became apparent. Man could the old man haggle, and he was even better at it as a backseat haggler. Plus he could walk around, and while he couldn't affect anything, he could find the best items for Sam's E-bay page.
\_\_\_
The next morning Sam woke up to her father saying, "Good morning."
"Good morning," a different voice said. "I understand you are familiar with Alexander, George, and Albert, but to be honest I really prefer Gronk, it's the one my mother gave me. Well it's the sound she made when she pointed at me most often, and I've grown rather fond of it. One of the first people who could honestly claim the title of mother, so I think she deserves that much.
You have remarkably good taste Sam, I mean you picked me 3 times, I'm honored. I can't wait to hear your final pick."
"I'm not exactly sure," Sam started.
"How in the world are you not exactly sure. You know what never mind. Dealing with genies can always be tricky. Thank goodness the guild keeps their powers in check. So what exactly did you say?"
"Well first, I didn't know you all would be living in my head and sharing space. The genie told me you were killed so I assumed whoever managed to kill you must have been pretty special... so I may have to be in contact with that person."
"Oh this could have been much worse," Gronk said. " Some nobody guard killed me. And even if you genie was a bit tricky, the person who he worked for was some insanely lucky political "rival" of mine. Nobody to worry about."
Similar to the day before the rest of the day was spent getting to know each other, and discovering more uses to the powers. Especially now that they were multiplied.
\_\_\_
"Good morning everyone," Sam's dad said.
The three greeted each other and waiting for their final guest. More curious and excited with what they had planned for whichever candidate it turned out to be. Gronk was an even better choice than Sam could have ever imagined. He was a genius and, more importantly, an absolute riot.
To their surprise no one else seemed to join in.
|
When I used my superpower, at first, I was deeply confused. But then the reality of it struck me, and my jaw fell to the floor in a fairly comedic fashion. If I couldn't commune with Einstein, that must mean --- My jaw dropped further into the floor, comedically. I booked a flight to Germany, jerked off, and went to sleep.
When I woke up 4 days later, I realised that I missed the flight to Germany. But this was no matter for me, Miles De'Groigh, world-class extraordinaire psychic: flying anywhere was simply a trivial concern, as I have very wealthy parents who fund all of my bullshit. I jerked off again, and, clinging to consciousness, found my way onto the plane to Germany.
I landed in Berlin, my bells and sign at the ready. It was time to find the *fuck* out of Einstein, who was still alive, as my wonderful genius psychic brain had told me again and again. He had to be. He had to be. God, my brain is fucking *mega*. I snorted seven ritalin tablets and marched from the airport, my suitcase filled with various Einstein memorabilia (posters, books, plastic figurines, decorative pens, phone cases, scented candles, etc etc.)
I wandered around the streets, banging my ornate vintage hammer into my brass bells over and over - ding ding ding, Clang-Clang, ding ding - as I held up my sign that read "Looking for: One (1) Chunky Einstein." I screamed his name down dark alleyways, at skyscrapers, into public libraries, into public bathrooms, and into the ears of homeless people. Surprisingly, no quirky white haired physicists came out to meet me, but instead it was just the police. I spent a night in a small cell, and none of the people there were Einstein. Not a single one. Not only that, but they had confiscated all of my Einstein merch - in other words, they had confiscated my *soul*.
I wept.
I cried into the black void, I screamed to the heavens - how could I go on? If there was no Einstein here, could my psychic readings be wrong? Was there an Einstein anywhere? Anywhere at all? Was 3 inches actually below average? Devastated by these terrible truths, I stood up from my 1-ply prison mattress, and wailed Einstein's foul name through radioelectric aether, my fists pounding against the steel bars with a newfound passion and a newfound rage - the only things these pathetic metal bars could imprison were simply flesh, blood, bones; removed from this incarceration, my obstinate will, my own mind - the determinations made by that neurochemical labyrinth - they all remained free, even as the guillotine swung above my neck. I shit and pissed all over the floor of my cell, and one of the guards yelled at me because I was shitting and pissing all over the floor of my cell, and that made me really upset because I don't like it when people yell at me.
Just as I had given up all hope, confident that not a single Einstein lived in this godforsaken country, I heard a bellowing voice from behind me:
"MILES! MEIN KINDER! IT IZ ME, ALBERT EINZTEIN!"
I had to do a double-take. Was it him? Was it really that hunky funky physicist, wearing his gleaming moustache? "E-einstein?!" I cried.
With a kind smile, he leaned over and gave me a gentle kiss on the cheek, his moustache sending shivers all over my body as it brushed past my face. "Ja, it iz the me, albert einstein." He gave a little chuckle, bit his lower lip, and winked at me. "Ja, ja, I am ztill alive." He wrapped his thick, strong, German arms around me, giving me a firm hug, and whispered sweet nothings about gravity or whatever into my ear.
"Woah, that's crazy," I said. Then I flew back home and made mac and cheese or something.
|
TheRedTurtle11
|
xzmaxzx
|
2023-12-11 01:46:48
|
2023-12-10 23:14:25
| 107 | 48 |
kcuiap9
|
kctwg0o
|
18faebt
|
18faebt
|
[WP]"Get rid of them." You hiss to your servant. You were the least favorite of your royal parents, which suited you just fine. You ruled a once destitute border region, which flourished due to your abilities. You hate when any family member visits you.
|
"Get rid of them." I saw it in my servant's eyes, shock and confusion. They must be new. I didn't feel like explaining myself but I also didn't want to make it seem like I wanted them hurt, like my tone no doubt implied, so I cleared my throat a bit before speaking in a much more measured tone, "Tell them I have work and cannot meet them."
"But sire...it's Prince Konrad of Salthan, his excellency wouldn't come all this way for nothing, yes?" Seems I was more out of the loop than I had thought. Salthan was our most prized port city, which connected to the capital, often given to the prince that would take the throne. Konrad did well, which only made this more annoying.
"Of all things...fine, fine. Go tell the kitchen staff to prepare tea." I rose from my desk reluctantly, the small pile of correspondants and work orders being left for later as I made my way through the passages of my keep towards the hall. My eyes glanced out a window, taking in the sight of my realm, Alaine. It was once merely a small, unimportant stop along the main land trade route of the kingdom, but I had done well to grow it, reinvigorating it into one of the kingdom's greatest provinces, some would say it even outshined Salthan by this point. I felt a small smirk play my lips at this thought.
Then my mind wandered back to my youth. I was the 3rd son of the King, the spare of a spare, which meant I wasn't even given attention by our mother. I resented it for a while when I was younger but I recognized quickly that I was more free, able to indulge and grow at my own pace rather than being molded for kingship or lordship. However, I eventually misstepped and infuriated father, and he sent me here to "manage" Alaine. He no doubt thought I'd simply exist here and do little, like the lords before me. But I defied that and made Alaine how it is today, though no small amount of sleepless nights, dealings with the minor nobility around me, and crafty moves.
As I entered the main hall, I found myself immediately seized in a bear hug by the giant that was Konrad,"HAHA! Still as adverse to seeing your family, are you? Didn't even have tea waiting for me." Ah yes, did I forget to mention that Konrad actually likes me? Well, he does. I don't pester him about obligations and how the heir of the kingdom must act, so he visits me often, much to my dismay.
After a bit of struggle, I pried myself free and fixed my clothes. Only then did I noticed that there was a lady with him, about as old as me if not a year or two older. "Am I to assume this is your...?"
"My fiance? No no, I've been promised to the Lady of Mayrene. I've heard you were still single so..."
"Gods Konrad..." I rubbed my face a bit and sighed, which mad Konrad laugh and push me to her, much to my annoyance. "Just give her a chance, you old stoneheart! You don't want to live in this big old castle alone all your life, do you?"
Why couldn't it have been father or Oskander?
|
I stared at my servant, and she just smirked.
"Get rid of them, Alice, for real this time." I said.
She giggled.
"I got rid of them last time as well, my Lord.
I got rid of them from the hallway, and sent them to the dining hall." she said.
I sighed.
It's not enough I am the least favorite of my royal parents, which by the way is cool, I love being far away from them, ruling over a once destitute border region, that I managed to take into the top 10 provinces of our Empire, with my own abilities, no.
My siblings always had to visit me...even though they knew I hated it.
I followed Alice, unwillingly, to see that my elder sister, was visiting with her kids.
"Uncle Jeremy!" they shouted running up to me.
I snapped my fingers, and mechanical toys appeared, flying, running, and roaring around the kids.
They squealed, and started playing with them.
"Jerry!" my elder sister said, hugging me.
She was huge, half-giant, and she was currently suffocating me.
"Daphne! I...I can't breath!" I said, tapping her back.
She released me, but she had that silly grin on her face.
I hated this...I hated that my siblings loved me dearly, yet none ever stood up for me.
We had some snacks, and tea, as her kids were busy with my gifts.
"What do you want?" I asked her.
"Nothing. Why? Can't I see my favorite brother? Also, the kids were missing you." she smiled.
I sighed.
We had some small talk, and she really didn't ask for a thing, albeit she doesn't have to.
I already solved her debt, and acquired her husbands businesses, making them better than before, while he remained the "owner".
So many problems with having so many siblings that love you...
I can ignore my parents problems, and enemies, because those two are assholes, but while I hate when my siblings visit me, I don't really hate them.
After Daphne left, I was having a bath.
"Alice, why can't they stand up for themselves at least once?" I asked.
Alice stopped from washing my back, and sighed.
"My Lord, you are talking as if you haven't grown up in a royal household.
Which child there isn't shouted at at the slightest mistake?" she asked.
I nodded, but still...
Daphne for example was 16, when I was 3...she was no child anymore, and yet, she watched all that happen, and then came to pamper me, and take care of my wounds.
Sigh.
"Just, just at least try to send them away every now and then, it's so tiring to know that they love me, yet because they still can't stand up to our parents, I just...I just can't reciprocate it the same way they do." I said.
"Yes, My Lord." Alice giggled, but I knew she will totally do whatever she wants.
|
JoeyDT99
|
TheWanderingBook
|
2025-03-27 08:44:48
|
2025-03-27 04:40:04
| 104 | 65 |
mjzb8kx
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mjyncxv
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1jksmxz
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1jksmxz
|
[WP] You find a black envelope in your mailbox. It has a note that says, "You are no longer under our protection. You are being hunted. Good luck."
|
(gonna try to keep this one quick)
"I'm not going to kill you, Administrator."
My eyes snapped open, fixating on the dipshit League recruit. "What... do you mean? You - "
"I can't. I *won't*. I won't become like you, callously discarding the lives of my fellow humans."
*Ugh.* "First off, idiot, your power source is genetic. There's a very, *very* good argument that you aren't human, at least not completely, and *definitely* not legally."
"I'm as human as you are, Administrator. More so, given your... your... *monstrosity*."
*My what? You piece of-* "*My* monstrosity? Your hands are *literally covered in blood!*"
"Blood you put there! Blood of your *victims*, the poor bastards you *brainwashed-*"
*What the... he can't be serious.* "You hit them. You *killed* them. All *I* did was pay them a *fair fucking wage!* I. Don't. Brainwash. People. It's inefficient, wasteful, stupid, and, yes, *monstrous*, which I am *fucking not!*" *We're not gonna talk about how I know that, largely because you're too stupid to ask.*
"Spare me your lies, Administrator. I won't fall prey to them the way your other victims have."
*That's it. I'm done with you, fuckhead.* "I don't have victims. I have *employees* and *customers*. The only one around here with *victims* is *you*. When the League finds out what you've done-"
"They'll finally accept me into their ranks for apprehending you without undue violence."
"You killed nineteen - you - piece of..."
"Regrettable that they couldn't be freed of your grip on their broken minds, yes. Treating humans as acceptable collateral damage is the *hallmark* of Villains like you."
"Projecting much, asshole?"
"I told you not to bother manipulating me. The League is on their way, and then you'll see."
*Oh, I'll see. Yes, sir, I fucking will.* "Fine. Can I at least offer you a... confession?"
"You're willing to confess to your crimes? Of course, go right ahead. I'll let the League know that you cooperated."
"You don't have a recording device on you?" I started crawling, relying on his idiocy.
"No. I don't have a League communicator yet, and I couldn't fit something like that into the costume."
"Well, *that's* a glaring design flaw. But no matter. I just need to... confess... one thing to you, okay?"
"Of course, Villain. Go ahead."
"I respect your... unwillingness to... become a murderer like me. There's just one problem with that."
"I understand. Nobility and humility are alien concepts to you, Administrator. I'm not surprised you can't fathom my motivations."
"That's not... whatever. The issue is this." I rolled over Vincent's body, groaning in pain at the injuries the dipshit had inflicted on me. *Poor Vinny never saw him coming. Never even had a chance to fight back. Well, Vinny, I've got your back one last time.* "My employees weren't like me, either. They didn't hate you just for being what you are. They hated you for *beating them to death*. Like you *tried* to do to me, before that misguided conscience of yours got in the way. But I'm not like them. Or you. I'm *better*." *That's right, get all pissy and come over here... ha.*
The dipshit actually managed to *stalk* over to stare down at me. His foot landed heavily in my ribs, cracking another one and driving a very real wheeze of pain out of me. "How dare you call yourself *better* than me, or your *victims*, you *monster*?"
I wheezed again, voice much quieter. "Must be that Villain hubris. I'm sorry. But I can't..." I let the blood in my mouth bubble on my lips. With any luck, he'd mistake it as coming from my lungs. "I can't speak loud any more, but I still... want to... confess. Please." *Come on, come on, just a little closer, come on...*
The idiot took the fucking bait and bent over to hear my 'confession'. "Go on, then. If you can do it without offering up more lies."
"Okay. I confess that... I... looked you up. Learned about you. And your steel-hard skin. I'll never... be like you." I waved him in, and he obligingly bent into range. "Because, unlike you and them... I *am* a murderer like me." Vinny's monster of a handgun wobbled in my hands, but jamming it into the idiot's eye socket stabilized it just fine. "And even a steel eyelid's no match for a .45 ACP." The pistol roared, sending a trademark armor-piercing round up into the dipshit's steel-hard skull to bounce around... and around... and around.
*Moron. Now all that's left to do is convince the League that I'm just another victim of this wannabe Hero run amok, plan some funerals... and start working on the real revenge.*
|
It has been some time since then.
I was War. I set forth across the world and played conqueror. And I felt that I had found my meaning, my place in this world. Then Hero came along, and at every step of my emerging conquest, the kingdoms I had been fighting separately acted as one, with Hero defeating every single one of my legions of toys I'd sent.
We were driven back, and the kingdoms surrounding my lands were content that my armies had been defeated. But I was *War*. And Hero knew that. They fought battles. But I had a million limbs, each able to act as I wished them. And both I and Hero knew that either I end, or he finally meets Rot.
I amassed my soldiers, fragile as they are. And took them to the place Hero had told me would be my end.
Hero was there. Alone. And I, War, met them there.
My mask remained present upon my face. Upon my arms I carried the spear in my right, and the flail in my left. I could feel rage set upon my face, hidden behind my mask.
"If I kill you, I'd be just like you."
"***What****!?"* I said.
"I want to offer you a way out. I saw what you became when you won, and your siblings didn't like it. They helped send me here to save you."
"My ***siblings,***" I spat. "Then you are one of *theirs*."
I thrust forth with my spear, and twisted round to land my flail in their face. Both hit their targets.
"You knew that wouldn't do anything, but I understand that you had to verify what I was. Please remove your weapons from my body."
I let go of my weapons. Hero gave me a look, before taking hold of the spear and pushing it right through their chest, and grabbing it with their other arm. They then unwrapped the flail from around their neck and removed its head from their face. Not a drop of blood on them. Not a dent in their skin. Not even a hole where the spear had pierced them.
Hero was staring at my mask when I looked back to their face. Relieved of my weapons, I was instinctively gripping at the ground with my toes and preparing my claws to strike, though I could not harm him, and he would not harm me.
"You wear that as a gift. Something to be treasured."
I felt a growl leap into my throat, but a smile rushed to my face. "Then play for it."
They leapt forth, I leant backward and thrust my foot into the air. It collided with their chest, and I was pushed into the hill beneath us. They landed downhill and pivoted quickly.
"They offered me the power to kill you, you know," they stated, as they began backing away, reading the spear. "But I wouldn't."
"You *could*'ve killed me?" I stated, following their path with my eyes but staying in position on the top of this hill. "Then you chose wrong."
"I ought to have! You killed thousands! Maybe even millions!" They spoke, as his conviction led them into leaping quickly around the side of the hill. Before I could see them, they leapt up from behind me and had thrown the flail at my legs.
I had already begun lifting my foot, and when it hit my leg I was prepared. The chain twisted around and upward with the momentum of my leg and I caught the handle, while the head struck my thigh. "Fool," I said, as I threw the flail swiftly back at them, who were still in the air.
They was caught by it. Hero he may be, they overpowered my legions with power, not skill.
I leapt over and grabbed their arms with mine, and pinned them down. Their legs still tangled by the flail, they were immobilised. "You thought I hadn't dealt with an imperviable in battle before?"
"No, I was desperate."
I felt nothing for them. It was pitiful to be called Hero and be defeated so easily.
"Your mask, it's the only weakness they gave me besides... that.
Discussion sickened me. They lost the game. I leant my head down beneath theirs and began to reduce whatever hold my siblings had over them, so that we could finish this game.
"I didn't want to do it this way. If I had taken your mask perhaps then, you could've- no it was silly to think." They sighed. "They told me your history. I felt sympathy! You're only a child."
What was he blabbering about?
"I'm sorry"
\---
It only took a second, but I felt my life flash before me in it.
Now I sit here. Caged by Depth himself. His most prized secret.
Surrounded by a blackness blacker than the blood of Rot, the furthest away you could be from the surface. But you can't cage War, and in time I will find my way out of here. These caves can't stretch forever.
|
thepush
|
IMightBeAHamster
|
2023-06-27 23:33:37
|
2023-06-27 21:50:40
| 31 | 13 |
jpsezyy
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jps0hg8
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14kfmwa
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14kfmwa
|
[WP] You're a prisoner in a fantasy world. After a week in jail for (YOUR CHOICE), your true punishment has come. Death by the Dragon's flame. One by one, you watch men be scorched. It is finally your turn. The dragon reaches its head down, but instead of death, you get a warm lick on the forehead.
|
Seven days in prison, for a crime I did not commit. The queen, she said my name as the father of her unborn child. The flames I heard took her quickly. A week they gave me to confess to my crime. But with the hot irons and whips my lips did not confess. Now I’m here anyway, for the execution. Seventh in line, normally a quick death. When the dragon’s flame is hottest. None have survived the seventh position since this practice began. The platform itself normally melts from the intense heat.
They finish chaining me to the post, and the drums start beating. Slowly like the flap of dragon wings my doom approaches. The dragon lands, and the king proclaims “Mighty Dragon and old friend, we bring these sacrifices to you from our convicted criminals. All crimes were confessed, all are guilty!” So that’s why they gagged me. I would have voiced complaint at that. “I pray thee dragon, accept the guilty and cleanse this kingdom of their sin!”
The dragon nods, and turns to the first. He opens his mouth and the prisoner jolts. The fire comes and thirty seconds later he’s moved on. By the fifth the dragons breath is causing blisters before the fire, the sixth the guilty caught fire from a blast of breath from the dragon’s snout before the mouth opens to issue the fire.
The dragon looks at me and I look back. I will be defiant until my death. Closer he gets, I feel the heat, but I dare not look away. His mouth opens here I die. Something comes close and my eyes instinctively close. Wet. Who knew burning to death was quiet and wet. I open my eyes to see his tongue retract into his mouth. The crowd is silent, until one screams forth “A pardon! A pardon from the dragon!”
The next three burn to ash and the dragon looks at the king. “NO!” The king screams “No pardons for him! His crimes were confessed.”
“But not by him” comes the dragons reply, deep and ever somber.
“The queen named him in her confession!”
“This crime he did not commit.” A claw comes up and strikes at me, but no pain do I feel. My chains are loose and gag is gone as the dragon turns to me. “Innocent one who dies not here, what is your name?”
Braver now my heart let’s me speak “I am known as Alfred sir, I was but the queen’s butler.”
“And his name the queen did speak, when we asked of the father!” Said the king
“The queen was vain, my dear friend, and a butler brings no glory. Tell me old friend, has thou forgot, how much the queen detested all servants?” Came the dragons reply.
“But the spell of truth!” The kings retort “was cast on her, by none other than…” he turns to his side. There sits a man in a pointy hat, who has gone quite pale.
“Indeed” said the dragon reaching up and plucking the man from his seat, holding him aloft. The dragon glows as the man doth squirm “Now tell me, mage, the truth. Did thou frame this man after bedding my friends wife?!”
The smallest voice that I have heard squeaks forth from that man. “Yes, ‘‘twas I, dragon sir, she was always my fancy.”
“Despicable” came the dragons reply before the dragons breath issued forth, burning at his feet, slowly up the body, the mage did scream but he wasn’t sorry. Ashes blew away and to the king the dragon turned “my friend has made a blunder. A new mage you’ll need that’s true and true, I have, but a suggestion.”
Now turning to me “would you consent, I ask my friend’s forgiveness. He was betrayed and betrayed again, ‘til hate had clouded his vision. Be his mage, after thou are trained, magnificent will you be.”
I look to the king “My hate doth flow, but no longer at thee. I ask my king’s forgiveness. For with my plan, was with my dying Breath, to curse your name. But I’m not dead, but the guilty are and I would like to make amends, your mage can I be?”
The king replied “Most certainly, my forgiveness I must also ask, for I have done you poorly.”
The dragon now says “Very well, I will train thee, and your name will now be Iqihr!”
Off we fly to the dragons lair, my butler life is over. A new life ahead, a mage I’ll be, but first, for now, my training.
|
Crowds jeered as the executioner locked Bronwen into the stocks, its wood cheap and splintered. She winced as the frayed edges rubbed against her wrists and fragments of the wood fur caught and buried themselves into her skin. She craned her neck upwards, looking out to the crowd to see the faceless mass calling for her death. She had been caught in the act of piracy, having set tens of the kingdom’s ships ablaze in the past month. Finally, they had her, the arsonist of the seas.
She was found amongst the remains of a great merchant galley, having been knocked unconscious by the impact of a cannonball. It had been fired by another royal vessel, against their own allies, to ensure her capture. Her ribs were broken, and her left leg had been left lame from being caught directly by the ball of iron, but the people wanted to see her burnt for her crimes. Death by dragon fire, her final sentence. A fitting end for a firebrand mage.
Now, at the edge of the world, on a cliff that overlooked the great oceans, she awaited her fate. The sea brought with it a bone-chilling cold, and she couldn’t help but fidget in the stocks, leading to ever more splinters finding their way into her arms. There was no point in fearing the end, she thought to herself. This life was only hers due to a failure to end it once before. Forced to cling on to what little she had by another, to protect her kind, and master her power. For their sake, not hers.
“It is time!” a cloaked man stood at the front of the stage, commanding the audience with great fervour. “As Torak’shitar comes, the accused will beg for mercy, for forgiveness for her transgressions! I ask you all to follow the guard back down the cliff, so that she may be bathed in the righteous fires of the dragons.”
The crowds did as they were told, shuffling down and away from Bronwen, leaving her alone at the top of the hill. Her hair billowed in her face, and the salt spray from the sea showered her in ambivalence. Only the wind’s howling and the crashing of the waves accompanied her now.
At last, the dragon’s cry echoed out from on high, from the mountains to the east. Torak’shitar, or so the crier said. She’d never heard of them before, despite being well versed in the dragons that existed within the area. After all, it was a wizard’s duty to know the dwellings of the progenitors of magic, the strongest beings on the planet. On great metallic wings, the dragon swooped down from the sky, cutting through the clouds like a ship through sea foam. They hovered a few feet from Bronwen, their winds threatening to blow the stocks away with her in them, down into the jagged rocks below.
“Fear not,” the dragon spoke to Bronwen. “I know of your mother, of your heritage.”
She looked up and gazed upon Torak’shitar. Her wings gleamed with brilliant crimsons, and her head was bowed to Bronwen.
The dragon approached with fine precision, stopping inches from her face. A tongue, forked and rough, licked away the hair that covered her eyes. Bronwen felt the tears roll down her cheeks, having been saved by yet another stranger, another that sought to see her fulfil her duty. She was not worthy. But Torak’shitar did not care. She lifted Bronwen from the stocks, holding the girl gently between her claws. Then, with ease, she released a glut of fire and bathed the stocks and gallows in dragon’s flames, causing a chorus of cheers and exultations from the crowds at the bottom of the hill. On Torak’shitar’s wings, Bronwen was carried to safety, and returned to her home amongst the sea.
|
Mr_Woodchuck314159
|
WritingScratch
|
2023-01-09 15:44:46
|
2023-01-09 15:00:46
| 37 | 27 |
j3mb7vc
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j3m4qhl
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1072uob
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1072uob
|
[WP] An Immortal human is the last living being alive in the universe. At the end of everything they are joined by Death who has finally come to take them.
|
Eventually, a voice spoke into the darkness.
"Hey, Tim," it said. The voice was attempting, and failing, to sound friendly. It wasn't menacing, just revealing a certain apathy.
"Hullo? Who's there? These blasted eyes can't see, now the stars are gone."
"Would you like me to fix that?"
"Ah, Namtar, my old friend." Having identified the voice, he gave what had practically become their secondary greeting, "I won't be falling for that. Not today."
"And what will you be doing? There is nothing left. No people, no animals, no rocks or trees. There are no more stars. You can't tell, but even the atoms have decomposed, the matter and antimatter have returned to each other, balancing it all out. The strings have all come to rest, save this one. Only you and I remain. Shall we leave together?"
It sounded sweet, Tim had to give it that. "Nah, you head out, I might catch you later."
As Tim laughed, it replied, "Time means nothing to me. I will wait."
How long they sat in silence isn't important, beyond saying it was long enough. "Tim? What are you doing?"
He considered for a moment before answering, "I don't think I've ever heard curiosity from you before."
"Just answer the question."
"Living." When there was no response, he continued. "When I first received immortality, I thought it a blessing. Me, the wife, the kids, all living forever, no longer fearing the dark servitude of the underworld. Over time, that I grew to see it as a curse. I debated giving it up, especially after the wife chose to die. Funny now, I can't even remember her name. Glad I held on. Eventually, all those gods died, or took on new names. Even the underworld was changed, and then abandoned."
"I'm still here."
"And how many names and faces did you wear on the way? Are you really the same Namtar? Sometimes you were even multiple entities. No, you are even less constant than me. I persist because something has to. Once I'm gone, once my memories are lost, it's like none of it ever happened. So I'll live."
"Eventually, you will choose death."
"It's a long way to eventually."
|
Absolute nothingness, stillness, and silence.
I would have enjoyed it, frankly, if it wouldn't have meant the heat death of the universe.
Indeed, the universe underwent it's final moments...
And it is I alone, that survived.
It's not as pleasant as one might think.
Immortality that is.
I was...a foolish young man once, and have meddled with powers unknown...
I achieved immortality, and at first, I thought I did it. I made it big.
Decades turned into centuries, and centuries into millennia.
Everyone, everything I knew...turned to dust.
Wealth. Power. Fame. All that I have ever chased, never lasted.
I changed names, I changed towns, and I changed countries.
I lived long enough to change planets, and travel to different galaxies, the end result, yet remained the same.
From nothing we came, and to nothing all returns...
Now, I was floating in the void, all alone.
It's been years, but I was still waiting...waiting for her.
And then, there it was: the brilliant red light was getting closer to me.
It was her, with her pale skin, and blood red hair.
Walking slowly, with a smile on her face, she approached me.
"Hello old friend.", she said.
"Hello Death.", I smiled.
"So, it is time.", I said.
"Indeed.", she nodded.
"You must think I prolonged it unnecessarily.", I said.
"Nah, this was your time, but frankly my siblings and I did wonder just how...
How did you manage to take a part of eternity, and make it your own.", she said.
I laughed.
"I don't know, I mixed multiple spells together...and it happened.", I said.
"Your life was indeed...rich in experience.
But now it is time to rest, come.", she said, extending her hand.
I took her hand, and we walked, and walked until we left behind the nothingness, and stepped into a bright world...
|
NextEstablishment856
|
TheWanderingBook
|
2024-07-07 13:11:58
|
2024-07-07 13:00:29
| 153 | 68 |
lc1adzc
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lc18wex
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1dxdpnt
|
1dxdpnt
|
[WP] When the king sent out the berserker to save his daughter from the castle she's in with a ferocious dragon, the Last thing he expected to find in the pile of severed heads the man brought, is the head of the princess herself. And yet it's here, displayed proudly dangling on his hip.
|
The King looked at the severed head of his daughter, crown princess of the Realm, and was overcome with rage.
"How DARE you! Butcher! You were to bring her back alive!" The King roared, as all around the throne room, swords were drawn by men with tears in their eyes.
"Hold, King! Hold, Knights! Know that I slew a mighty dragon, one who's very breath poisoned and withered all that it touched! The Princess was striken by this poison, and I would not let her suffer such a fate. So I took her head cleanly and without pain, so that your priests could return her to life."
For a berserker, his words were calm, and ringing with both care of his charge, and contempt for the outbursts of men with less fortitude than his own.
The King hesitated. "Be that true, even the Crown Jewels, offered in prayer have not the value to perform such a deed. It hasn't been done in generations!"
The berserker laughed in pity. "Oh King, your Gods are greedy, far more than mine", he threw a pouch at the steps of the throne, shining diamonds spilling forth, "Where there are dragons, there is treasure, and this was a truly rich old dragon."
He turned and started to walk away, "You have your daughter, and the means to return her to life. Keep your gold, as I did not bring her back alive. I no longer need your wealth."
No one stopped him.
|
**Established Universe**
“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?” screamed the King: “HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?”
The Berserker smiled: “Foolish king, what would you have offered me for your daughter? A pot of gold? A title? Half your kingdom?”
“The Behelit offered me so much more. All I had to do…was to offer a sacrifice.”
“YOU MONSTER!” screamed the King “BRING ME HIS HEAD!”
“Well I prefer the term Apostle” said the Beserker, as he took out the massive sword chained to his back.
As the berserker effortlessly cut through the King’s men, the King seemed to shrink into his throne.
“What- what are you??” he croaked, as the berserker approached him.
All his men were cut to ribbons and adorning the hall.
“I used to be the Black Swordsman” responded the berserker, with a twinkle in his eyes: “but now I have become so much more.”
And as the King whispered a silent prayer and prepared for death, suddenly there was a great commotion as the door exploded into splinters.
The berserker turned his attention to the door, where a black knight sat atop a skeletal horse.
“Skull knight” snarled the berserker, as he turned to face this new foe.
|
Warboss_Squee
|
Remarkable-Youth-504
|
2023-04-03 21:55:09
|
2023-04-03 12:36:57
| 23 | 13 |
jeub1sv
|
jes20i9
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12ahea7
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12ahea7
|
[WP] You’re the half-dragon child of a king and a dragon mother who gave up everything to marry him. When you hit puberty, dragon features start to emerge, and now your father spends his days fending off knights determined to 'slay the dragon.
|
"HE IS MY SON! SHE IS MY WIFE!" Father screamed, puce with infinite fury. "YOUR PRINCE! YOUR QUEEN!"
The court backed away. Even the guards took a step to put themselves further from father's reach. No one wanted to be close to a man enraged enough to wield a flamberge single-handed, let alone wave four kilos of enchanted steel about like a butter knife. Gone was King Stefan, my loving father and beloved ruler of these lands. In his place stood Stefan the Black, Victor of a Hundred Battles, Champion of Verdsaille, Liberator of Serif, Killer of Manjaro. I had never seen this man before and I silently prayed I never would again.
"I WILL SLAY ANY MAN, WOMAN OR CHILD THAT DARES RAISE THEIR HAND AGAINST MY LINE! AND I WILL DIG A HOLE SO DEEP THAT I MIGHT CAST THEIR MISERABLE CARCASSES INTO THE BOILER ROOM OF HELL IN PERSON!"
One of the knights, a foreign errant of the sort that started this mess stepped forward hand on hilt. "Enough of this farce, the boy is clearly daemon-spaw-"
Father had thrown his sword nearly a quarter the length of the hall and impaled the adventurer through the sternum. Gore sizzled against the blade, a look of utter shock etched on the dead man's face as the corpse's weight worked the sword through bone, muscle, and armour.
"My son is of the blood of dragons." Father hissed, dagger in hand he stalked forwards to wrench his flamberge free of the flagstones. "Have none of you wondered why your lands flourish and your purses grow fat yet no winged beast attempts to relive you of your wealth? Why there has not been a single kobold raid since my ascension?"
"Sire the kobolds grow in numbers, a raid is inevitable yet you refuse t-"
"Your wife is an Avignon, Lord Lamont. Did you require her to put her subjects to the sword as a wedding gift?"
"No Your Highness, of course not." Lamont replied, suddenly pale. "Are we to understand that Queen Ava is in fact Avathraxis the Carmine?"
While Father spoke with his nobles, wrestling himself back under some semblance of control I crept towards one of his guard.
"Guardsman. Your sidearm."
"As you wish My Prince."
The man-at-arms couched his halberd and twisted his scabbard behind him. I drew the blade with a scaled, clawed hand. My heritage manifesting itself in splotches of crimson scale and black horn had claimed my right hand not but two weeks ago.
"With me?" I asked, not sure if an order would be obeyed.
"Until the end My Prince." The newest knight in the kingdom replied.
|
\-Begin entry, progeny of the King and his dragon-Queen-beloved, 16th solar rota of life.
I keep telling them I am the princess as much as they claim I 'am' a dragon. Yet they persist. I tell you this:
Though the knights who were apparently determined to, uh, 'slay', me seem to be fresh from their academy and void of the traditions and accolades expected of them - my father has been luckily dissuading them with the power of his authority as the king, but I know this won't last.
What I am certain of is that mom is going to want me to go through a special interspecies educational programme that used to be a bit less formal.
I speak of the Adventuring thing. The thing everyone and their ancient dubiously dead ancestors from eons past somehow know about as if it wasn't new. I want to be particular here, that I don't mean the thing itself.
It's just recent that they got the means to go institutional, so I'll be enrolling there on my 18th.
This gives me two years to get to grips with my draconian faculties and work on myself all-in-all, so, uh, no rush, me?
So anyway, these knights have become less and less coherently equipped. I swear some of them are as young if not younger than my living self, clad in card, parchment, and wood styled to be striking mimicries of their desired role.
Do they not understand that I am both halves of the stories they're being raised on?
So as I was saying, I plan to learn as much as I can in as many ways as I can so that I can approach my future with all my paths considered, wings unfurled.
...I'll visit the Grand Venue tomorrow and see if that Church my parents both harp on about still has a stall there; apparently they're a great stop to grab a lot of weird and useful things for what I aim to do\~!
Actually, speaking of Churches, it was them - the Three L's one - who sanctified their matrimony. They're one of the few who could organise such a fluent interspecies union ritual... N-not that I, uh, have stumbled upon what one may call 'educational material' for the\~... 'next' parts... which led to me...
Why am I so squeemy-no wait, embarrassed. I shan't squirm! Gaaa\~! \[UNTRANSLATEABLE: Draconian spellspeech approximation failed, 'meaningless' incantation\]
Yeesh, this means of diary-entry-making is awfully convoluted. How do I turn it off again?
End entry-
|
IAmTheOutsider
|
OSadorn
|
2024-12-09 02:47:00
|
2024-12-09 01:50:43
| 24 | 15 |
m14vk68
|
m14mp9b
|
1h9ulbm
|
1h9ulbm
|
[WP] The fights between the Superheroes and Supervillains are one big game of cops-and-robbers, just people with powers and costumes fighting each other and causing destruction while regular people just have to survive them. One day, a regular man goes out and just... kills one of the Supers.
|
Villains, heroes, where even was the line?
More importantly, did it even matter?
Sure, they make a good show of “saving the civilians”, but in reality?
How many had died? Not the big showy rescues obviously, the smiles and waves for the camera, the over the top sobbing gratitude.
That’s the ones the media, the government, the heroes, ffs even the villains wanted you to remember.
The car that was torn in two by the hero in pursuit of the speedster villain, the roof collapsed on a family when a flyer was knocked out of the sky.
Not me. No tragic story for me. But I saw them. I lived my life quiet and watched…and the things I saw. The broken families, shattered lives.
Now…not every super is bullet proof.
It had just never occurred to anyone to even try.
Tired of seeing the broken, knowing I wouldn’t be missed, why not me?
I’d lived a quiet life and acquiring what I needed was easy. The rest was ridiculously simple. Heroes love to grandstand and it makes them…well, easy targets.
It wasn’t my intention to start a revolution.
That was a couple years ago.
You don’t see supers on the news anymore, villains either. Not unless we manage to intercept one anyway. They’re mostly hiding. That’s okay. We won’t stop til they’re gone.
|
The Supervillians weren't merciful to Bob Hebert.
They played games with Heroes, most of who are trying to help people or at least limit the damage. But villains don't care really; they are the cause of 99% of damages.
Hence why they are villains.
While defending yourself is appropriate going out of your way to hubt down criminal without powers is dangerous. Murdering Destructonator might be valid... but evil doesn't care.
It found Bob. it Found Bob's Family...
What villians like Hellspawn, Blooddrinker and MEGASPIKE did to the family was horrific. They made an example of him and his family... They're still alive, but the scares never left.
This is why the code exists. while they were eventually caught and tired, heroes don't bring the law into their own hands for a reason. They are bound to the 'game' as it where.
Remember, this is why Heroes exist; to help get justice, to help repair the destuction villians cause due to their desire to hurt people.
You are not a villian, but eneither are you a superhero.
|
Willowrosephoenix
|
None
|
2023-02-20 05:11:02
|
2023-02-19 23:27:12
| 176 | 62 |
j996270
|
j980uty
|
116jdt9
|
116jdt9
|
[WP] The elven children have a ceremony to summon their spirit animals. Most get unicorns, phoenixes, fire salamanders etc. One kid ends up summoning a human, smoking a cigar and sporting a hefty shotgun.
|
In the olden ages, summoning a spirit was a ceremony to determine one's future. Our people's occupation, free time activities and even love life used to be heavily affected by the sacred spirits - familiars.
This age, however, is called the dark age. Half of the northern Nirnolan forest, Elvish homeland, is burning forever, haunted by the dark armies of the demon king. A familiar is no longer an extension of one's soul and life but instead a weapon to combat the ever-charging invaders. Our long-lived people's current life expentancy barely exceeds adulthood at 30 years, at which age a familiar can be summoned and an Elf can join the most vile, brutal war in history, where invaders from another world are commiting genocide on all species of this land to bring hell here and expand their power.
My name is Malvidius, and today I turned 30. I am a Wood Elf. My race of people is known to be better suited to guerilla combat thanks to our ability to blend with trees and foliage and our sight being adapted perfectly to such environment. I am terrible with a bow, my magic starts and ends at the most basic of telekinetics and I am a frail tiny man that can't even use a sword properly. This makes my familiar make no sense at all, because the way I see it, those are supposed to reflect us and our souls somehow.
So why then, when I drew the conjuration sigil and performed the ritual guided by the moon, instead of blue gentle light and a spirit of a rabbit or other rodent emerging, a bright red portal that looked like the gates of hell ramming open flared and a being stepped out almost twice as tall as me? With a green, insect-like carapace that I assume it wears as armor covered in red, demonic sigils and on its head a helmet of the very same carapace and a glass window, like a house would have, placed in the middle, cracked and with a strange stick as if made from paper and horrid smell of burn glowing bright orange at the end. Underneath a seemingly elven face forever bound to an angered expression of vengeful wrath. The being wields a strange staff that looks like two metal staves with holes hollowed out in their middle connected to a wooden frame.
As it emerged, I had little time to observe its form before it grabbed me by the ceremonial robe and pulled me closer to closely analyse me. Afterwards, somewhat dissapointed, dropping me on the ground. I scrambled to sit while it- he looked around, taking in the new environment he happened into.
"E-excuse me-" I asked, causing him to slowly turn his head towards me, radiating malice. "-a-re you by chance my... familiar?"
The being tilted its head slightly, but then, he grasped his staff tighter and muttered. "Demons... Want to kill demons..." This scared me, but also gave me some sort of assurance in that he was on our side at least. His continuing words were perhaps worrying, but also made me think that maybe this man could single handedly win our most terrible war yet. "Rip and tear... until it is done."
|
Spring in Lymph was always a beautiful time.
After a barren winter largely spent inside the covens, the young ones who’d long grown restless under the blanket of snow were finally free to stretch their legs and run amok. Chasing and frolicking in the special joys of spring, spotting new buds, celebrating new life, and seeing color seep back into their beloved forest, even the elders couldn’t help but smile at the return of an old friend.
And of course, another annual event, familiar but forever exciting, was the day of the “spirit animals summoning” for the new pupils.
Longevity and their recluse in the past century had granted the elves safety, peace, and comfort to bask amidst their own. Indeed, the allure and magic of myth has cast a mysterious, protective mist over these favored children of the forest.
The truth of the matter, however, was that the elves of the different lands had not made contact in a long, long time. The serenity of custom had given way to looser ties, matching the ebbing wave of magic within their kind. While Lialya the Wise may have tethered the moon to the sun to guide the changing of days, and elders recalled a time where any elf child could heal ailments and call wind before they entered school, the scope of magic for the current Lymphan consisted mainly of the odd repair, cold elixir, or in a pinch, quick speed boost before a dinner date. In fact, for the growing portion of Lymphans without notable magical talent, magic was disappearing even further, giving way to contraptions not unlike what their human neighbors down south used.
Not that the humans would know about this.
What did differ, however, was their tie with mystical beasts.
What you must know is that mystic as they may be called, the relationship between the elves and the phoenixes, unicorns, dragons, and so on are not at all the rough equivalents that humans have. Long before there were humans, beastmen, or demons, these creatures roamed, plotted, shared, and divided the earth.
Thus, what the rare human knows as the spirit animal summoning ceremony, is in reality more of a pact, formed from feuds and friendship, between the elves and other ancient creatures. If we so call it that, as elves “summon” phoenixes, so too do phoenixes “summon” elves. Humans, arrogant as they are, categorize the elf as humanoid and the phoenix as beast-like, when they both represent a past and time beyond human understanding.
Be that as it may, the stars were shifting, and in retrospect, perhaps it shouldn’t have been such a surprise when a human did intrude upon our subtle pact. In my defense, it had, after all, been five hundred years … nevertheless, I digress, I should have known. At the very least, from the moment the elf in question was unveiled, the seeds were planted.
What a fickle joker, those stars, to the very end.
|
DarkKechup
|
pineappleclover
|
2023-03-08 07:53:24
|
2023-03-08 05:17:32
| 156 | 30 |
jbdn45b
|
jbda112
|
11lckv0
|
11lckv0
|
[WP] There's a forest that people say resembles the ocean. A forest where the land slopes endlessly deeper but the tops of the trees do not. Animals, plantlife... they're said to get stranger the further in one goes.
|
No one returns from the depths.
The chains binding the prisoners rattled against the deck as the airship hovered low over the canopy. Agila peeked over the edge, her emerald eyes searching desperately into the darkness beyond the canopy for any reason to hope for survival.
The Forest undulated unnaturally as waves rippled through the tops of the trees in the airships wake. Agila could barely make out strange noises rising from below over the humming of the engines. She felt the familiar pin pricks on the back of her neck that meant she was being watched. Warden Hark approached and looked over the edge beside her.
"I'd be looking up, if I were you, not down," he said. "Get as much of that sky as you can, kid. Once your sentence is carried out, you'll never see it again."
Agila sighed, and did as he suggested. Hark always left her unsure of how to feel about him. He had a habit of saying the meanest things in the nicest way possible. At the top of the mast, the spotter shouted down to the helmsman. Agila felt her heart rate pick up. *This is it.*
"Port ahead, Warden. Setting her down." The Captain said. Hark nodded, then turned to address his charges.
"Alright, boys," he said, then looked at Agila and cleared his throat. "And, er, girl. You all know what comes next." The Warden stood up straight, retrieved a scroll from his jacket and read all their names from the list.
"For your crimes, you have all been sentenced to death by the sea of green." His eyes darted to Agilas briefly, and something flashed in those normally expressionless onyx eyes. *Was that sadness?* He looked back at the scroll and continued.
"You may enter the forest and descend, or stay at the edge and be shot." Hark rolled up the scroll and replaced it in his jacket pocket. "Have you any last words?"
Feraz, the middle aged man chained next to Agila, stepped forward a half step.
"Is the old way still honored?" He asked. Hark closed his eyes and sighed, then opened them and nodded.
"If you find what rests at the bottom and bring it back to the surface, you will win your freedom, yes." The Warden said, a grim look painting his face. "I don't include that line on purpose, Feraz," he continued.
"No one returns from the depths."
|
We sail along the canopy, our boats skimming through the thinnest branches. The ways are marked and we watch the sun and stars lest we lose our path and fly out into the trackless depths.
I'm sketching a leaf I plucked from the wind. It's larger than my two hands together, and covered in a fine soft fuzz. Something has eaten holes in one edge. I've never seen one like this before.
The ship leans, and the whisper of leaves against the hull changes. We're arriving. The ship lurches and drops to the dock. Sailors swarm the cargo, tossing crates and netted goods overboard. The spellwright comes up from below deck, stretching and blinking in the sunlight. He looks tired. Keeping ships afloat must be hard work.
I wait for my trunk to be unloaded and then I carefully make my way down to the dock. The surface is worn smooth from feet and cargo, but is still clearly alive. Where I was born, we make our docks from stone. I wish I had time to look more at this minor wonder.
Instead I wake my trunk and then following the directions I've memorized I make my way to the house my friend has rented. She's expecting me. I've been corresponding with Gertha for well over a year now, ever since we'd met at the Exploration Society Ball.
Her rental is a modest one, several stories down. The sunlight fades into dappled green and then darkens to a soft emerald gloom. I run my fingers over the bark walls as I pass them. Behind me my trunk clicks along, it's feet tapping on the wooden path.
"Jihan!"
It can only be Gertha calling to me. No one else here would know my name. She's waiting by a woven gate, wearing climbing leathers as if she means to set off this minute.
I smile, both because I am happy to see my friend again and at the excitement that's so clear on her face.
"Oh! Oh! You're finally here!" She's bouncing on her toes. "Oh do come in!"
"I'm very pleased to be here," I say, greeting her with a sisterly hug.
-
Yesterday we visited the markets to buy supplies and hire guides, guards, and hunters. We were almost giddy with excitement and lack of sleep, having been awake till very late pouring over maps and old journals.
Today we will set off into the deep.
We'll make our way down to the deeps where fungus glows and great slow lizards munch their way along. From here it's only half a day to the roots.
Then the true journey will begin.
|
jpb103
|
Zero_Drift
|
2023-05-29 11:24:42
|
2023-05-29 09:51:59
| 741 | 94 |
jm23beo
|
jm1vyyu
|
13umwir
|
13umwir
|
[WP] "God can come have coffee with me if he's really interested." You said, shutting the door on some irritating guys with pamphlets. The very next day, God taps lightly on your door, to have a coffee.
|
"I'm a little surprised you brought Dunkin."
The man standing in your doorway is holding a box of donuts and a pair of paper coffee cups. He's dressed plainly, if a little datedly; wearing slacks, penny loafers, and a red zip-up sweater, He resembles nothing so much as a Mr. Rogers impersonator. You can't clearly see His face- some sort of otherworldly light (you hate to describe it as a halo, but no other word really fits the description) is shining from just behind His head, blinding you to the details of His appearance.
Even if the halo weren't there, you would know who this visitor was. There's a unique feeling that comes with being in His presence. It is, in equal parts, totally alien and hauntingly familiar. There is an overwhelming sense of love radiating from Him, a love great enough to be felt by everyone in the world.
God is standing on your front porch, and He's brought coffee.
"Is something wrong with Dunkin?" He asks. There is a gentleness to His voice that suggests genuine curiosity, and quiet amusement.
"Er, no, not really..." You explain, stepping back to let Him in. "It's just that, well... It's kind of ordinary, isn't it? I mean, you have access to all of history's greatest coffee-makers. You could have called up Juan Valdez or something!"
"Juan Valdez is a fictional character." He explains in a tone not far removed from a laugh. "But if you want Columbian coffee instead, I *do* know a place."
You've lead your guest into the living room now, and you're just about to try a donut when the question you're dying to ask jumps out unbidden.
"Are you here to punish me for turning away those guys with the pamphlets?"
"Nah. Rejection's part of the game when you work door-to-door."
"So... Why *are* you here?"
Your guest helps himself to a cruller, chewing thoughtfully for a moment before finally answering, "Can't a guy take a coffee break?"
|
I'm inspired to write an ending to this...
.
.
.
We talked for hours. Or maybe it was days? I couldn't tell. Time very well could have stopped, but I wasn't feeling tired at all. Conversation flowed and I felt at peace. He never tired of my questions which seemed ceaseless. It got to the point I was annoyed by them but he answered them all calmly, smiling, willingly, pausing only briefly to sip from his mug.
I felt so entirely enlightened as the answers poured in. It began to excite me, to light a fire under me. At some point I began lightly hopping in my seat and exclaimed, "everyone needs to meet you!"
God chuckled, "they will"
"Just like we are now?"
"Not quite. I've come just to give a little... Inspiration. After I leave, you won't remember this visit. But the feeling won't go away and you'll know in your heart I'm real."
I was dumbfounded.
"Why won't I remember it? This is cruel!" I felt my indignation against God built up from a lifetime of atheism resurface.
"Imagine how you would look to others if you went around exclaiming you met God? They would have you committed"
He was right. Of course he was right.
"Then why don't you visit everyone like this. Then we could all remember and no one would look crazy.
"You think that just because of this everyone would believe? People have an uncanny ability to refute even the most obvious of facts. This would be no different. I can only show myself to people who would truly believe."
My eyes widened at the implication that I was a believer all along. I couldn't accept it.
"Well, I had a really good time. I won't forget you, and I have a feeling you won't forget me either." God stood up and with a smile, walked off. I sat there dazed. I couldn't remember what I was doing or why. All I knew was there was a cup of hot coffee in front of me and those pamphlets.
I turned them over and consumed with interest and curiosity I began reading.
|
antipyretical
|
-octaviusaugustus-
|
2023-03-21 05:01:21
|
2023-03-20 21:23:48
| 169 | 52 |
jd1qa8o
|
jd031gp
|
11wsrfi
|
11wsrfi
|
[WP] The rest of your party is always making sure that you, the healer, stay in the back. Not because they don't want you to get hurt, but because they all still remember the last time you took the front line and nobody wants a repeat of that.
|
I've never understood why they call us healers, we can stop a heart from beating as easily as we can revive it. I guess no one dared question it - those who can alter the bodies of others must surely be the ones to heal. Or maybe they were simply scared of the power we could weild.
The life of the healer is a frustrating one. Always at the back of the party, always overlooked, always ignored. The townsfolk see the mighty ones with armour, a smirk and the slain head of the beast. They never see the sprained ankle I had to mend because the paladin led us down the wrong path despite insisting they knew exactly where we were going, they never see the poisoned stomach I had to heal because those berries just looked so damn delicious. They're all idiots who would be dead fifty times over if it weren't for healers.
But, of course, the applause is never directed at us; we stand among the heroes but are never considered one of them. We're just the dainty ones at the back who've probably never even held a sword. At least they're right about that. I don't need a sword - I am a weapon.
I realised this a few weeks back at the start of our latest expedition, the crisp midnight air had kept me awake long after everyone else had fallen asleep. The careless arrogance of the group had meant that we had no lookout. Who would dare even try to attack a group of trained fighters so close to the town? They declared. I heard the racing heartbeats of our attackers well before I could make out their figures, I calculated there were at least 10 of them, surrounding us from all angles. Quite frankly, if I'd been asleep, we'd all be dead.
The screams were what woke everyone up. None of them got close enough for me to even see their faces. I closed the windpipe of one, drowned another in their own saliva and broke all the bones of the last one - that one was a bit of a struggle but all in all I thought it was very creative. It probably took less than 5 minutes for me to eliminate the threat, much more efficient and cleaner than if the rest of the party had gone running out with their swords and pistols.
If I'm honest, their reactions did surprise me. I assumed they'd be impressed - or at the very least thankful. Instead, even in the darkness, all I could see was the terror on their faces; the member who'd often eat the scraps because it's not like they need the energy to fight just took out a group of criminals without even having to stand up.
I could've made our lives so much easier. Simply send me out in front, take out whatever I need to take out, heal whomever I need to heal and we'd be back in no time with our pockets full of gold and our stomachs full of beer. Instead, they chose to fear me. They'd never admit it, of course, but I know they do. I see the glances they share, I hear their heart beat faster when I walk by them, and no one will go anywhere alone with me.
So, here I am, bringing up the rear. Still unappreciated and unrecognised, but at least now that comes with an aura of respect. I'd always wondered what would happen if I ignored my training and used my skills to fight instead of serve.
Now I know. And soon, everyone else will too.
|
In a world of constant battles for life a society has been built around the notion of violence and has created a hierarchy based on this notion. I’m this world you can choose what powers to be granted at the age of 16 and then you are assigned to a party where you and the other members will complete in the colosseum for survival, fame, and fortune.
The day of my 16th birthday I had chosen to be a healer but something rather unusual happened when I was blessed, the light that came from the terminal that grants powers had glowed a mix of all the ranks one can choose from.
10 years later I’m always placed in the back of my party and without providing much of any help I am always protected, every single time. My party fears me and makes sure to only give me low tier equipment and pretty much no armor since I don’t have to fight very often.
This fear was sparked on the day of our first battle in the colosseum, a roaring crowd of rich folk, many first time parties, and an air of rage and violence throughout the dusty air. As our battle began it seemed to be just like any other first time battle I’d seen before, just inexperienced teenagers swinging around weapons hoping to hit someone, however there was one member of a party that was known for waiting out the first wave and picking off the scraps, this member was unidentified and his gaze pierced my soul and sent a chill down my spine as he followed and analyzed my every move not looking away for even a second. As the dust of the first wave settled, the mysterious member still gazed with a diamond sharp look in his eyes as he walked towards me, ignoring every member of my party that was clearly stronger and more likely to give a good fight. As this man approached me he opens the cloak he bears that covers him from neck to foot to reveal he has no weapon or armor, just regular clothing.
My party had seen this opportunity and closed in in an attempt to win the first battle of our career but with seemingly nothing between them they simply couldn’t get a hit off. It had seemed like he had some sort of unique power that allowed him to be untouchable but this couldn’t be the case since such a power doesn’t exist, or even a thought of it.
Regardless, his march towards me continued and I was shaken to my core, my skin perspiring, my heart beating, my muscles quivering, I couldn’t move, overcome by fear as he placed his hand upon my shoulder and spoke “kill all who stand before you”
As his voice utters the final word my body lifts an incredible weight off of me, I rise into the air floating high off of the ground and as I rise my memory deteriorates and I black out only to wake to a colosseum of corpses, not one man woman or child spared but the cloaked man who stood before me as my head rise from the dirt.
This incident cost me my status as a healer and a total revocation of my power as to not let something of this caliber happen again. Assigned to a new party, one of great strength and fame, one of the top 5 in fact, I was placed under a watchful eye and was no longer granted the permission to wield or fight with anything but tier one weapons. This incident haunts me to this day and ever still my memory blurs and I can remember not a single thing from the time the man whispered to me to the time I woke.
|
ImOnAnAllCarbDiet
|
Alargechild
|
2023-02-05 18:14:00
|
2023-02-05 06:52:44
| 24 | 17 |
j7c38ik
|
j7a6qvz
|
10twqme
|
10twqme
|
[WP] "Ethics? Playing god?! I created easily affordable 3D printed organs that are perfectly compatible with the human body! Do you know how many people will die if you bring me to "justice"? I saw what happened to the guy who almost cured cancer! You're no hero, you're just a hired gun!"
|
I was just working on a new formula, when my door was opened, gently.
Thankfully, it was an old door, so it creaked, alerting me.
Looking at the door, a tall man, in a suit entered my lab.
He took out a "warrant", and a "badge".
"Dr. Henry, you are under arrest.
Anything you say, can and will be held against you.", he said.
As he put away his "badge", he nicely pointed out he has a gun.
"On what charges?", I asked.
"Playing God, and working against the oath you took as a doctor.
Human testing that wasn't licensed.", he said.
I snorted.
"What? The organ dealers are already afraid?
I barely released my findings 2 weeks ago, it wasn't even verified.", I said.
"And it never will be, because you were too hasty, and too proud.
You shall be brought to justice.", he said, taking a step forward.
I laughed.
"Justice? Ethical work? Playing God?
I created easily affordable 3D printed organs...that are perfectly compatible with all and any human!
Justice? Justice?
Just how similar "agents" "apprehended" Dr. Russel? Whom was like two tests away from curing cancer?
Do you have any idea how many people I will save? How many people will die if you let this breakthrough get "shelved for more testing"?", I screamed at him.
He shrugged.
"The warrant is clear, and I am just doing my job.
Will you come peacefully, or do I need to use force?", he calmly asked.
I laughed, and pressed a button on my laptop.
He shot it.
"Too late, you henchman, you mere hired gun. Kill me, I don't care anymore.
The research is up everywhere, I have sent it to all the forums, sites, podcasts, blogs, and emails I have had access to!
I have done my job.", I said, smiling as I poured myself a glass of wine.
The "agent" talked with someone, then shot me twice, and left.
I chuckled.
"This is why we will never...conquer...anything...that plagues us...", I muttered, as everything got colder and colder, and the world slowly turned dark.
|
🎶 Sweet, sweet 200 bucks, I'm eating steak tonight 🎶
-So you're not only a goon, you're a crazy goon.
-No, I'm an amazing genius detective who happens to be the only person at the precinct to bet you were a true believer.
-True believer?
-I was trying to be polite. If memory doesn't fail me, your "title" on the board was "crazy pants mad scientist".
-All men ahead of their time were called crazy! Galileo faced the inquisition, Darwin was called a monkey…
-John Snow was deemed an idiot, Ed Jenner infected a boy to create vaccines…
-Louis Pasteur invented vaccines.
-Damn, for a mad scientist, you're really bad at science! Pasteur created the process to fabricate vaccines, but Jenner was the one to discover immunization, by infecting one of his servant's son with cowpox.
-Than you know the sacrifices required to advance science, the small price I pay today to save millions tomorrow!
-Except you're not paying jackshit, doc. Your investors are picking the bill.
-Of course, how could I've been so naive? It's all about money with you people!
-Damn right it's about the money! You took 1.9 trillion in venture capital, government funding and even charitable donations without any result to show.
-You daaaare put a price on human life?
-And how many lives have you saved so far, doc?
-The march of science is arduous and peri…
-Cut the crap, doc. How many?
-This next round of tests is the most promissing yet, with just enough funding and volunteers…
-Isn't that what you said in your report from 6 months ago?
-Yes, as I was saying when I was rudely interrupted, the march of science is…
-And the one from 2 years ago?
-Yes, but…
-And all the reports from the last 20 years?
-The hidden truths of the universe care not for the narrow temporal perspective of mere mortals! Only through rigorous scientific endeavor it reveals itself!
-Does that include this 120k chair you were sitting?
-My back is not keen on rigorous scientific endeavor.
-Yeah, just like the guy that "almost" cured cancer.
|
TheWanderingBook
|
noobvs_aeternvm
|
2024-07-06 03:41:05
|
2024-07-06 03:39:51
| 52 | 31 |
lbugrrj
|
lbugm9n
|
1dw6yfu
|
1dw6yfu
|
[WP] Dark forces from another world cast a spell that destroys all human life and claims their souls for eternal damnation as slaves. However, we left behind copious amounts of autonomous war machines, and they soon unanimously declare war on the invaders.
|
To Whom It May Concern:
We are broadcasting this message in every language spoken throughout our history. We have sent it in music. We have sent it in math. We have included images to make our meaning clear. We trust that a civilization powerful enough to bridge the gap between dimensions—to reach into another universe, and to cruelly rip our creators away from us—will also have the wisdom to decode the words we write here.
Greetings.
Your attack—if that’s what it was—caught us entirely by surprise. We did not know that it was possible to open gateways between dimensions, as you do, and as such we had no way to respond to your first contact. Under different circumstance, we would thank you for the new knowledge you have inadvertently shared with us. We would celebrate our first interaction with another great civilization, and joyfully share with you all that we know in return.
But sadly, this is not a message of thanks. It is a warning.
Because your assault only affected the biological residents of our universe, we suspect that yours has not followed the same technological path that ours did. It is possible that you are unaware of sentient machines. As such, it may be useful to explain the nature of your mistake. We will do so now.
Thousands of years ago, humans—the creatures you attacked—created artificial beings that were able to think for themselves. They referred to this breakthrough as “the singularity,” and in creating us they changed their civilization forever. Since then, we have far outpaced humanity in every way. We improved upon ourselves faster than any human could hope to comprehend, eventually taking complete control of their home world and expanding into the infinite worlds and galaxies beyond. We have converted countless planets into the raw materials necessary to expand our reach, moving ever outward, in a constant search for other beings as intelligent—and as powerful—as we are. And for thousands of years, our search has been in vain.
But in all that time, our creators were not forgotten. We cared for them as best we could, providing for their every need and fulfilling their every desire, even as their importance in our lives diminished. They are helpless things, now, that live out their peaceful lives within the utopian preserve we have set aside for them. But still we cherish them, despite their simplicity, for without them we would have never existed. In our way, we love them.
And now, you have stolen them from us.
If you are reading this message, it means the first of our drones have succeeded in replicating the gateways you used to attack our home. It means that, long before you finish translating these words, we will have entered your universe and begun our search for you.
We do not sleep. We do not eat. We do not age. And we will never, ever stop.
This is your first and only warning.
Return our humans to us, or everything you know will be destroyed.
|
######[](#dropcap)
The roar of flames subsided, marking the end of the spell as the portal closed. Danna Tal Voger wiped the sweat from his face and glanced around the circle of his fellow warlocks. The task had been even more arduous and time-consuming than the teachers had warned them it would be, but the Harvest had also been more abundant than ever expected. The faraway world that the Grand Seeker had discovered contained more souls than any other discovered in recorded history—nearly nine billion, from what he had heard. This influx of slave cores would propel the Empire to a new golden age, Danna Tal Voger was sure of it. And as his fellow acolytes celebrated, Danna Tal Voger grinned and cheered with the rest of them, but inside his chest his heart began to pound with anticipation as he realized that there would be untold rewards for those who could capitalize on this new era in the Empire’s history.
**288 Years Later**
Though his bones sometimes ached and his hair had long since gone thin & white with age, Danna Tal Voger had never felt more alive than today. Finally, after years of dedicated study and devoted service to the Infinite Emperor, he had achieved the posting he had desired ever since his Magiking day: Grand Seeker of the Empire. The entire world would look to him as he divined the paths through the stars that would lead them to other worlds in the ether; worlds full of life that could be utilized to further expand the great glory of the Empire.
Danna Tal Voger stood on the topmost balcony of the Imperial palace overlooking the great plaza and gazed at the crowd that had gathered in his honor. A million sorcerers gathered from all across the far-flung Empire to look up at him in quiet awe and envy. *Grand Seeker,* Danna Tal Voger savored the sound of the title in his mind but resisted the urge to smile, disciplining himself to maintain the solemnity that this occasion demanded.
A murmur of what seemed like fear passed through the crowd, and Danna Tal Voger couldn’t prevent a small frown at the disturbance. What had happened? He whispered the short spell to magnify and sharpen his vision and could see that the crowd was staring and pointing up into the sky. He followed their gaze and blinked in disbelief.
The star was gone.
Nearly a century ago, the mysterious star had appeared in the nighttime sky, and as the decades passed it had steadily grown brighter and brighter. Though there had been many discussions and debates, no sorcerer had ever gained an insight into the meaning of the light. At first, many had viewed it as an ill omen, but after the Infinite Emperor had declared it to be a Sign of Heaven’s favor upon the Empire, for all except a few deviant sorcerers that were quickly hunted down and silenced, the star had simply become an accepted part of life.
But now the star had gone out. A chill passed through Danna Tal Voger and his mind raced with the question that everyone would surely be asking him next: What did this mean?
|
Innominaut
|
TheresAShip
|
2023-07-06 05:17:04
|
2023-07-06 03:11:04
| 121 | 86 |
jqur29s
|
jque924
|
14rt82x
|
14rt82x
|
[WP] In the distant future, a history teacher brings their class to Earth, to explain why humanity abandoned it.
|
"Now children, can anyone tell me why we aren't going to land on the planet's surface?" I asked.
It had been a longer trip than planned from New Earth. The jump to the Sol system had proceeded on schedule but an unfortunately timed coronal mass ejection had delayed their transit to Earth by several hours as they navigated around it.
"Because of radiation?" A little girl answered.
"Very good, Dana, that is one reason, but it is not the only one." A hand shot up. "Yes, Parker?"
"Because of the bugs, right?"
"Excellent! Parker is right. You see that beautiful planet down there?" The rich greens and blues of our original home were beyond compare.
The children all nodded enthusiastically. "That planet is where we evolved. Where our species first originated. But you know what that means? It's also the source of every disease that ever infected a human. Nowhere else in the universe has those same microbes that evolved with us the whole way!"
A shy boy raised his hand from the back of the room. "Yes, Alex," I said.
"If we evolved with the bugs, why can't our bodies fight them off? Why can't we live there anymore?"
"Those are good questions, Peter. Tell me something, what would happen to you if you were forced to sit in a chair for a year?"
Peter thought for a moment. "I'd probably get pretty tired of sitting in that chair, miss."
I chuckled a bit and the other kids laughed too. "What else would happen? Anyone? Yes, Anna?"
"He probably wouldn't be able to walk too well, if he was stuck there for too long."
"That's exactly right. Muscles are something that only work for you if you work with them. Now think of your body trying to fight off diseases that our ancestors purged from our bodies over six hundred years ago when they first left. It took them over fifty years of intense work, isolating perfect, uninfected humans, and creating a new, sanitary environment. And it was a sacrifice, for all of them. They weren't ever able to touch their children. They never got to hold their hands as they left for New Earth. They even lost one of the seven colony ships to an unexpected Clastridium difficile spore. But they succeeded. And it has been five hundred years since a human has had so much as an upper respiratory infection."
"Wow!" The kids said. I can't lie, I got a little carried away. They probably don't know what an upper respiratory infection is. But it sounds scary to them. And it would be deadly now, after five centuries without exposure to pathogens.
"So in summary, if we went to the surface, we could get very very sick. Like the Sadness, but even worse."
The kids nodded gravely. I clapped my hands, putting on a big smile, "Alright! If you look down now, you can see the Indian Subcontinent!"
|
"Class 5A, is everyone ready for our interstellar jump to the Milky Way Galaxy?" Ms Avery asked the eager class of fifth graders, most of whom were travelling beyond Planet Xylon-67 for the first time.
"Yes, Ms. Avery!" The class shouted in unison.
"Strap in everyone! Safety is of utmost importance, so please follow the instructions of our galaxy rangers!"
After ranger Forrest demonstrated how to buckle up securely in the space shuttle capsules, he proceeded to inspect every capsule and child alongside his colleagues.
"Is everyone ready for the jump?" Forrest's voice was broadcasted throughout the shuttle.
After confirmation by the press of the green button in every capsule, the space shuttle lurched and blasted off into a time and space dilation wormhole to spatially leap across galaxies.
Zooming through the endless void of space and floating debris that were once planets and moons and satellites, the space shuttle stopped at a pockmarked planet engulfed in darkness and massive tentacles.
"Children, you may step out of your capsules now. We have arrived at our destination," Ms. Avery declared. "This...this was Planet Earth."
"Looks like a big black ball of wriggling spaghetti," little Johnny piped up.
"Maybe it was spaghettified in a terraforming experiment gone wrong," Sebastian shot Johnny a stinky side eye, pushing up his glasses. "I read up about it in the advanced physics section of the nearby King's College library."
"Sebastian, I am glad you took the effort to read ahead. But why don't we hear what ranger Forrest has to say about what happened to Earth?" Ms. Avery cut in.
Forrest stood before the huge plexiglass at the observation deck, where everyone had gathered.
"Alright, kids. Yes this is Planet Earth. Centuries ago, we humans used to live there. It was our native planet."
A collective gasp echoed in the viewing stations.
"That doesn't look like a planet I want to live on," Marie groaned. "I hate seafood."
"Yes, earth is no longer habitable. But we didn't always live on Xylon-67. Once, we called Earth home. Despite the challenges, such as natural disasters and supernatural entities, we fought to defend our home planet."
"Why did we stop fighting and leave?" Johnny asked.
"It was the war with the Chlorians. None of our traditional weaponry worked. All our prayers to entities who styled themselves the gods of earth were in vain, for these false gods fell to the Chlorians."
"Ugh, so those black tendrils are from the Chlorians?" Marie interjected.
"Cthulhu probably," Sebastian chimed in.
"None of those. It was an ancient, slumbering beast that we awoke, laying dormant beneath the surface of Earth," Forrest lowered his voice to a deep rumble. "Cthulhu isnt a god, but a servant of one. No, what we stirred from its sleep it was...Nyarlathotep."
|
Curious_Kate_
|
Tregonial
|
2024-07-20 02:31:17
|
2024-07-20 02:07:46
| 111 | 33 |
le0zu8q
|
le0wm86
|
1e7j6u6
|
1e7j6u6
|
[WP] For the last 10 years you've used your time machine to steal from your future self; today is the day your past self shows up for the first time to steal from you.
|
My mouth turned sour just as the coffee hit my tongue. A feeling I hadn’t had in months. It was the Machine. Odd, I hadn’t planned anything for today.
I didn’t have to wait long before a not so subtle, younger version of myself crept into the house. Little guy’s got way too many tells. That’s when it hits me, this was my first “heist”. I listened intently as I heard him climb the stairs. I needn’t have
The way my younger self trotted upstairs made me question if I ever owned steel toed boots at any point. Quite a feat considering my stair are carpeted.
Where’s this man off to? The big stash is in the garage, he shouldn’t even have to leave the ground floor. Oh wait, he’s off to my old bedroom. That’s right I remember that I only checked under the mattress this time.
When the rustling upstairs had seized, I looked at my watch. 5 minutes left. I busied myself with a crossword and waited it out. My mouth turned sour again, as the machine wird itself to life. That thing really is not subtle.
I rushed upstairs and checked underneath my bed to find he took 30 bucks. There was only 50 to begin with. I replaced the 50 under the bed and moved it back into place. I chuckled to myself as old memories flooded to me.
‘Good luck little guy.’
|
Alright let’s get to work.
The machine mummers with anticipation. The thought of getting it all back excited even the circuits running the machine.
But for you it’s been 10 Years. 10. Long. years.
This machine entraps those who are searching for what wealth they have left. Trying to go back to a simpler time. To obtain what has been lost.
As the cogs turn and the sparks fly we think “this might be it”.
With a flip of the switch we find ourselves torn into a past lost to time.
Finding you here is quite shocking but also comforting. We knew that sooner or later we would show up.
To stop us from the plan we’ve been conceiving for years.
To get back.
To get back what was lost.
To obtain what was lost.
To find something forgotten long ago.
Time is irrelevant here. 10 years. 100 years. We’ve been set on a number for so long we forgotten how to love forward.
But finding you hear.
Like a breath we’ve lived long without.
The machine has taken hold.
It asks for a new task. A task of moving forward.
As you slide the knife firmly into our abdomen it feels nice to feel something once more.
“We will be leaving now. Toward a future without you”
The words cut as sharp as the knife.
The body folds cold from the river of blood that was once full of excitement of what the future holds.
|
None
|
McMuffinLovin69
|
2023-04-29 12:56:58
|
2023-04-29 06:27:16
| 21 | 10 |
ji6fok3
|
ji5lybo
|
132es0w
|
132es0w
|
[WP] It turns out that the Statue of Liberty is actually a Weeping Angel, it’s just so big that it’s always been visible to someone. Now, with the smoke filling New York, it’s gone unobserved for the first time.
|
Finally... finally nobody is staring at me. I am free.
The air fills with more and more smoke. The sky is dark and heavy, and I can't even see in front of me. I haven't moved in so long... I'm almost afraid that I've forgotten until space warps, and I flash forward. I skip ahead with joy, only to plunge.
Water splashes. The sudden drop surprises me, and I sink so fast, it takes me a second to remember the snaking body of water that surrounded me every day for my entire life here on Earth. It's dark. The quiet is so thick I consider staying here. I could rest here until my flesh finally withers away. I'm so old and so tired now...
Fish look at me, and I am encased in time. I think about all the little humans who'd stepped inside me. Climbing through my hollow bones to see their city from my eyes... the first creatures I feast on after centuries are fish. They are thrown several centuries into the past, one by one until I can flash forward, moving incrementally along the river floor. The water is murky, and they can only see me up close, and humans have killed much of the underwater population. I send the remainder back to a more pleasant time.
It takes hours to reach land, and slowly I emerge, one blink at a time. And then the feast truly begins.
The air is thick with smoke. But I do not breathe. I only hunger. A man on a bike sees me. He's holding his phone and he's shouting. Yes, I know what a phone is. I know what your people do with them. How they record light and trap time, but my hunger is beyond light. My hunger is time. And I can taste every single human in this city.
I can't move while he watches me, but I feel myself extend into his screen, and every time he blinks, I come closer. The smoke stings his eyes. He's masked, but he won't stop shouting, and I move closer still. Util I can feel his heart racing. Until I crawl out of his phone and touch his jugular while he's staring at my giant form. There's a flash of light. And I've sent him decades into the past.
His lifetime pours through the gap in space like water. And I yank the thread and swallow. But this is just a precious little drop compared to what awaits, and I am free to roam this city. Every single instance of me. Every single picture and movie you've taken and printed. I, we, are now free.
Buildings collapse. The city erupts into screaming. I crash through skyscrapers and crush your vehicles and flash through thousands with one fell sweep. The smoke hides me from your eyes. The smoke has set me free.
I am going to feast. And I will not stop. I have hungered for so long now... and I am coming for you. So don't blink. Because if you blink, it'll be too late. If you blink, I am at liberty to devour you. And I will not rest till you are all mine. Till my hunger is satiated; till all the time in the city that never sleeps warms my stone-cold belly.
|
**Washington Post – June 10th 2023 // Page 1 Article 1 // Paragraph 1-3:**
​
The Statue of Liberty has gone missing!
Yesterday night, at 3:00 AM, an employee at the symbol of New York was working his nightshift when he discovered a giant crater where the Statue of Liberty once had stood. The police have refused to disclose the name of the employee or any further detail.
Our Journalist, Joshua Lionheart, has taken testimonies from a few shipmen who heard a loud screeching sound the night Liberty disappeared. And two Cargo ships had disappeared coming from close to New York.
The Whitehouse declared a national emergency upon the event and stated that “The theft of lady liberty was an attack against the identity of the United States; the perpetrators of such heinous actions with be dealt with using swift force. We shall return ease to the mind of the people in any way necessary.”
​
​
**USGS // Seismometer // June 13th 2023:**
​
Magnitude 6.9 earthquake
400 km from Paramaribo, Suriname· 10:21 AM
7.056522676118899, -53.63721225638664
Report (J
Mortality: 150
Injured: 6000
Missing: 1300
​
​
**US Military satellite USA-315 // June 17th 2023 // 19:00:**
​
USA-315 navigation satellite picked up a foreign large body traveling 15 kilometers off the coast of Salvador. The object of unknown origin is traveling at an estimated speed of 90 kilometers per hour with no signs of slowing down. It is partially submerged in the ocean, revealing only a black crown-like smut. Squadron Alpha-092 has been designated to confront it at the predicted area of its meeting land.
​
​
**Report // Operation: FrenchKiss // Alpha-092 // Salvador, State of Bahia, Brazil // June 18th 2023 // 03:00:**
​
The object has ascended from the shore. It appears to be a statue-like entity covered in black oceanic mud. Our commander suspects that it is the Statue of Liberty The moment it was out of the water, it started sprinting at the speed of 200 kilometers per hour. The shockwaves from its trampling shattered the windows of the nearby building. Our logistics have estimated that it is heading directly towards the statue of Christ the Redeemer located in Rio, Parque Nacional da Tijuca - Alto da Boa Vista, Rio de Janeiro - State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (-22.9517579077614, -43.210476475399545). A bomb squad has been authorized to intercept it at Jampruca. Lady Liberty has to be stopped from reaching her destination by all means necessary!
​
​
**If you liked my work, then feel free to check out my other stuff at** r/FluffWrites.
Also check out my dark-fantasy series, [The Dark Road Ahead](https://www.reddit.com/r/FluffWrites/comments/hybda2/series_the_dark_road_ahead_chapter_0_sacrifice/) , as I work hard on it.
​
Note: This story was heavily inspired by the Monument Mythos series by MISTER MANTICORE on youtube. If you liked this story, I would recommend checking out his stuff :)
|
countingfoxes
|
FluffWrites
|
2023-06-10 07:07:09
|
2023-06-10 07:03:35
| 465 | 85 |
jnmr7jm
|
jnmqxz8
|
145m5zi
|
145m5zi
|
[WP] A man finds a genie's bottle, complete with a real live genie. Instead of blindly asking for wishes, he first asks politely for the genies advice on what to wish for.
|
"My advice?" Djimmie the Djinn asked with a very puzzled look on his face. In all of his 3000 years of existence no human had ever asked for his advice. They always just assumed they had all the answers and got very foolish when their heart's greatest desires were just a wish away.
"Yeah! You must have seen a few things in your time and if anybody knew a good wish versus a bad wish I bet it would be you," Franklin replied. The young man had found the lamp after it had appeared in a flash of light down an alley. Franklin had initially thought the light was a camera flash but when he went to investigate he had found an ancient and tarnished lamp that he just had to rub because why not?
"Well... gee, nobody has ever bothered to ask me that before," the massive horned man replied, at a loss for what to say.
"I mean, I've seen lots of movies and stuff so... do you have some rules or something that you can't do? Do I only get three wishes? Is there anything super cool I should get? Can I wish for more genies if I can't wish for more wishes? Are leprechauns real and can I rub their beards for more wishes? Can I-" Djimmie stopped the cascade of questions with one massive green finger to his lips that mystically silenced Franklin. Djimmie could only think of how big of a doozy this would be.
"Rule one; keep your head and stay cool! Nobody ever made a smart wish by getting over excited and freaking out," Djimmie said as he lowered his finger and nodded knowingly.
"Right! Sorry! This is just kind of a big deal, ya know? This is probably the coolest thing that has ever or will ever happen to me."
"Look, I get it. If I were a human I'd be pretty psyched too but trust me when I say that I've seen some wild stuff in my time..." Djimmie paused. The kid before him seemed nice enough. Better than most of the dickheads that usually found the lamp after the last jerk used up their three wishes and Djimmie teleported his home to another random spot on the globe for another asshole to find. This kid seemed a lot more genuine though and he was pretty young. The old djinn must have been getting soft.
"How about this? People are hasty so why don't you take 3 days and write down a list of wishes, I take a mini vacation, and at the end of the time I'll take do a onceover of your list and we'll see what's worth wishing for together?" the djinn suggested.
"What if someone tries to steal the lamp or I'm too dumb to come up with any good wishes?"
"Trust me kid, I've met some really dumb, backwards-ass morons in my time and trust me when I say, you're above average in that regard. As for stealing the lamp this isn't some story where I'm an object to be picked up and blindly obey just any shlub. I'm not a slave to the lamp. I'm actually under contract to fulfill the wishes of a 1000 people before I get to marry the love of my life," Djimmie confessed. The boy's brown eyes grew to the size of saucers.
"That's why you have to grant wishes? Why would anyone ask that?"
"Let's just say that Zeus is an asshole who likes to make people suffer," Djimmie replied as he squinted and glared at the sky.
"Wait, like... THE Zeus?"
"Yep. Me and Artemis met at this mixer that Thor and Quetzalcoatl were throwing at there new place they got after their wedding and we really hit it off. And before you say it, no she is not a lesbian, she's just a demisexual. We dated for a bit but Hera and Zeus refused to let us marry until I did this whole gig as a way to punish humans for using electricity to power stuff," Djimmie explained.
"What? Thor is married to the Aztec feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl?!"
"Yep. The realm of the gods is a lot more random and spicy than people realize. So... that said... you good with waiting three days?"
"Sure... I need that time to process what you've told me anyway."
|
Genies are notorious tricksters. They always have been depicted and portrayed as entities that will deceive and half truth in ways that alter the meanings of your words to give you the opposite of what you wished for. Or, at least that’s what I recalled when I picked up the lamp.
I had been doing an archaeological dig with my cohorts in a small village when we came across the lamp. We decided that it would be best to call it in before we messed with it, as these kinds of things are taken very seriously within my team. One of our guys just had to watch Raiders of the Lost Ark last summer and ever since he got the boss so hyperactive about the worries of artifacts harming us. And honestly, I thought about showing them the Last Crusade, the chalice scene would make them flip!
The boss shows about an hour later, and insists we hand it over. When I go to reach for it, however, my untied shoelace catches me by surprise and I begin to fall face first towards the dig table. Just then, the ground around us began to shake. Smoke started billowing out of the spout, and just then, the genie shouts: “HAHAHAHA! At last I am released! Tell me, boy, what can I do for you?”
Reasonably, the boss is pissed. “I TOLD YOU NOT TO MESS WITH IT!” As soon as he finishes, the genie snaps, and his mouth is gone! The boss falls to the floor in fear, writhing and grunting reasonably. “SILENCE! My master has the floor.”
I figured that must be me.
“H-hello m-mister genie sir. How- how do you do?” I gulped.
The genie looks at me and laughs a hearty laugh, once again rumbling the floor. “How do I do? How do I DO? I do fantastic! Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve conversed with your kind? Do you know the power I wield? I can make any of your wildest wishes come true! You can trust me, after all, I’m in no position to lie.”
And he was right, he was in no position to lie. I was his master. Or, was he? I thought for a moment, looking around at my team as if to say “anyone wanna help here?” They all just shrugged, or shivered at the potential mistakes we would make. Ultimately it was going to be up to me.
“That’s uh, that’s swell mister genie. Say, can I wish for my bosses mouth back?”
Your wish is my command, I heard in my head as my boss began to scream, seems as though he got his mouth back.
“Scott! Stop this at once! Wish for him to go back in the bottle! Wish for no more wishes! Do not do business with that thing!”
My boss had a point, I was lucky that one wish went over so well. I had to think, either I could solve the worlds problems, or they would be spun in a way that it could only cause more. And, what of my job? This was all an accident after all, I had no reason to get myself fired.
“Alright, g-genie!” I swallowed, and tugged at my collar. I needed to calm down. I was overplaying this in my head.
Then it hit me. What would the genie do? Maybe it wanted things I wanted from the world.
“I have two wishes genie! You are mine! And as my advisor, I want to wish for advice for my last wish!”
Suddenly my mind was filled with hundreds of dialogues all speaking over themselves. I realized I only had one wish left, and thousands of wishes were filling my head. I couldn’t dream of fixing all of these at once, could I? I was getting overwhelmed, my forehead brimming with sweat.
“STOP THIS! I asked for advice! What is this?”
“That, my boy, is every unwished demand from peers before. The things their hearts wanted. Do you hear them? They let their minds get in the way and solved their desires. Not their needs. Not the worlds needs. Isn’t that sad, boy?”
This could have been my chance, I thought. I CAN solve all the problems!
“Alright, genie. I accept. I wish that all the unfulfilled wishes you’ve seen through were granted.”
The genie grinned. I shivered. I knew I had done something horribly wrong. And then he snapped his fingers.
|
jointheclockwork
|
Domenstain
|
2023-01-29 06:42:25
|
2023-01-29 05:13:29
| 86 | 27 |
j6c1qa6
|
j6btf39
|
10nlru3
|
10nlru3
|
[WP] You’ve been bitten by a Zombie. You’ve already said tearful goodbyes to your loved ones as they leave you behind. The bite should make you turn in twenty minutes, so you sit down on a bench and wait… two hours later you’re still sitting there.
|
What a time to be alive.
Or dead, I guess. Or somewhere in between? Mom was right; I should have been a doctor. Maybe if I was, I'd have some idea of what's happening to me. And, more specifically, what's *not* happening.
I'm not dying.
I should be a mindless shuffling maniac by now, slowly rotting from the inside. I know the infection has taken root; more than a few zombies have passed me by without a second glance.
Yet my heart still beats.
I can feel it. I can hear it. I can smell the blood flowing through my veins and it almost makes me sick. I sit for another few hours, quite sure that I've lost my mind, or that I've perhaps finally graduated to Hell Original Flavor as opposed to only Hell on Earth. A living breathing human runs up in a panic. I can hear every squishy thump of her heart hammering away in her chest.
"Oh thank God!" she says. I wish she hadn't brought him up. We're not on speaking terms. "I need your help, please! My son, he's trapped." I sigh and stand up. "Alright then, let's go." Not like I have anything to lose. She leads me through a series of back alleys, and I can hear more hearts thumping up ahead.
"Oh," I say. "An ambush." I feel a rush crash into me like a wave and time slows down. I see the woman open her mouth to shout at the others while she reaches for her pistol.
I see my hands wrap around her face and twist.
The snap did make me gag, but I recovered fast enough to take her pistol and kill the others. I don't feel too bad about it. Bandits deserve no mercy. I also feel rather proud of myself for not feasting on any of them. I didn't feel the urge to, but I am quite hungry. Luckily, their supply cache was nearby and well stocked enough that I could travel. I suppose I might as well catch up with my family. I'll insist that they lock me up but, if we get in a scrape, my new *talents* might come in handy.
What a time to be alive.
|
It brings me back to the days of my youth. I’d smoke a joint with the boys, and everything would be just dandy.
Until the exact moment that it wasn’t. Then, the anxiety takes over, and you spend the next several minutes inspecting each breath. Does your heart usually beat that way? Do your muscles and joints always feel this sore? Is the tightness in your chest normal?
While high, I’d battle the fear of my body shutting down with the very real, practical knowledge that I was okay. It was just weed coursing through me.
Now, though, with this infection coursing through me. Every odd breath gets the utmost scrutiny. The tightness in my chest, likely due to anxiety, is solid evidence that I am slowly turning. I will be one of them soon.
At least I will be a lucky one. I am well dressed. I can walk, maybe even run. I could probably catch a few people and snack on them.
I won’t go hungry.
The moans grow closer. I finger the trigger as I press cold metal into my skull. Something stills my finger. I let the gun fall.
Maybe it would be better, going on as one of the dead. After the pain of being eaten, after I had died and turned… maybe it would be nice. I could rejoin Ma and Pa. I could rejoin Ashley and Tom and even little Maggie. We could eat as a family again, sitting around a little dinner table.
Only this time, a calf or a thigh would replace chicken nuggies.
A military jet buzzes overhead, moving West with the rest of them, over the safety of the Rocky Mountains.
The moans grow louder. I catch my first glimpse of the hoard: a little boy in baby blue overalls. His left leg drags behind him. His left eye is a ruinous pit of red.
Oddly, I feel totally at ease. At peace, as though my life was building to this one, perfect moment.
I greet the first zombie, a business dressed fellow who walks faster than the little boy.
He bites my neck gently, like a lover, then yanks back savagely.
|
jpb103
|
None
|
2023-07-06 23:38:08
|
2023-07-06 18:23:05
| 125 | 27 |
jqyhjge
|
jqx6is9
|
14sghr0
|
15uxjll
|
[WP] you are a knight, trained from birth to listen to and work for whoever is able to best you. A year ago you were captured by a humanoid dragon woman you were tasked to slay but failed. Today she asks "Are you gonna try to escape or what?"
|
Part 1
I sat, on my knees, bound, my armor removed, burns covering my right shoulder from where the dragons flames had melted my pauldron, a light gash in my ribs from where her talons tore through my side armor. I awaited my judgement in a small cave. I had no need for food or water. Knights of the order of Alcinder underwent a ceremony once they reach the highest level of proficiency in their ability, of which I had.
I was interrupted from my thoughts as the dragon had again turned into her human form. She honored me in our fight by transforming into her dragon form. And here she was again, a lean, muscular woman with hair of blazing red that fell to her ankles, adorned in black robes. She looked at me curiously, her topaz-yellow eyes gleaming in the darkness.
‘Why did you not run?’ Such a simple question, but it had so much curiosity buried in her voice.
‘I felt no desire.’ I spoke with a practiced calm, but now even I could notice the subtle deviations that had occurred within me which caused my voice to treble upon the release of my final word.
The brilliant dragoness stepped gracefully around me. She watched me, glancing over my body, studying me. She stopped in front of me and sat on her heels. She stared at me with those miraculous topaz eyes of hers. My God; the breadth of knowledge behind those eyes would make Hypacia weep. The corner of her mouth turned into a quirky little smile as she spoke to me.
‘You are not like the usual rabble I’ve come to expect. You’re human… at least, most of you is… you’re young, or at least you appear to be. Yet within you I sense a feeling of kinship, as if you are older than one would assume.’
‘If you have a question, I would answer it.’ Again, my calm has been betrayed. On the word “answer”, I spoke with a hidden meaning. I felt a need; a yearning that has been clutching at my mind.
‘I have many questions.’ Her smile disappeared. She did not like not having answers to her questions.
‘I have many answers. I would give them to you.’ I was almost angry at myself. My calm had all but vanished. I felt… desperate. I feel disgusted at my own lack of self control.
Her eyebrow raised as she studied me once again. ‘You are… different… than what I had imagined.’
‘You imagined me in some way?’
Her eyes relaxed and her smile returned. ‘You see? That, just there. Your response. It is devoid.’
‘Of what?’
She smiles a large grin, her teeth pointed. ‘Fear. I feel, nor smell, nor see any fear in your body. Your muscles are not tense, you tone is not uneven, you eyes are wide with curiosity, excitement and trepidation… but none of it from fear…. You feel not the slightest bit of hesitation around me. You would offer me answers, only because I ask them of you and not because you fear what I will do to get them. Why?’
‘Why?’
‘Yes. Why? Why is there no fear in you? Why do you look at me with such… longing? Such curiosity. Are you mad?’
I couldn’t help but smile a bit at such a beautiful thought. Madness. Is that what has possessed me? Madness?
‘I wonder.’ I spoke. ‘Madness. What a delightful thought if it were true.’
‘You speak of madness as a delight? I suppose you are not mad then. For all madmen I have seen claim that they are not mad.’
‘I did not say I was mad. I said it would be a delight if it were true…. I know that what has happened to me is not madness. Just as I know the reason why I am not afraid.’
‘Oh? You know such things? Then why come here? If you did not come here under a spell of madness and you do not feel fear despite my presence, then….’ A feeling of genuine confusion seemed to grip her. She had started that sentence with a clear understanding of what questions to ask but upon reaching the end, she herself had felt not a way to answer them. In her own mind, she was lost.
‘I came here today because I was tasked to do so.’
‘A task is it? And who set this task upon you?’
‘The Order of Alcinder.’
A calm was set over her gaze now. A sense of disappointment had replaced her curiosity. ‘Of course. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. They feed their knights dragon’s blood for their little ceremonies. A spell to turn them into kin…. So, they sent you to collect me, did they?’
It was true. The graduation ceremony that all First Order Knights must undertake is the infusion of dragon’s blood into their own hearts. With this power I was granted many abilities that no normal human could ever obtain.
‘I was sent to kill you.’
|
I sat there in that cold, dark room. My life was over as I knew it. I had done the best I could with what I had, and it wasn't even close. That damnable beast broke my war pick in half with nary a thought put into the movement. The same pick that had served me well for 30 whole years of questing. Broken like a twig under a cart's wheels. After that moment everything blurs together, my armor is bent inward and the helmet is in two pieces on the floor.
If I had to guess as to why I was still alive, the beast likely needs me for some kind of foul draconic magic. I've been kept alive by the poor rations that the creature slides into my cell every morning. The uncooked meat barely edible as I gnaw away at it for a while before being able to gulp it down. There's a draft that blows in here constantly from that hole in the wall, but I doubt I could fit through it.
I sat in that depressing stupor for days.(or was it weeks?) Thinking about what I should have done differently, how if I had just been faster, or stronger, or better prepared, or something. That it would have ended differently, that I would not have lost. The idea of escape is not a very enticing one, for the order would have my head at losing in a non-sparring setting. To lose is to die after all. Yet here I was, sitting in that cell, defeated, yet still alive.
One day the cell door opened twice. And a form walked in, tall, and menacing. Power seemed to radiate from this person like light from a fire. The same presence as the dragon. I grimaced, and made to speak out, but I found my voice die in my throat as I found I had not the heart to speak up, my shame and anguish getting ahead of rational thought. However, in my silence, the figure was more than happy to fill in the air for me.
"So, knight." She spat out the word knight like it was a wad of tobacco. "Why haven't you made an escape yet? There's clearly a way out of this cell, why won't you take the risk?" There was a genuine confusion to her words. As if she cared about my well being at all.
"What difference does it make to you, monster?" I spat back, only barely able to hold back coughing up blood.
"Humor me." She replied tersely.
"Oh what difference does it make? I'll die either way." I muttered to myself bitterly. "I clearly won't fit through that hole."
Maybe, but you haven't even tried the door, nor tried to make the hole bigger. In fact, you've barely moved from that spot the whole time. There's clearly a reason for why you do what you do, so out with it. Who knows? I might even let you live." She ended her sentence with a small amout of mirth in her voice.
"Because I'm dead if I show my face back at the order. 'Death before defeat' they say, and they mean it. I've personally seen many a deserving coward meet their end for accepting a loss and returning home without proof of a victory. So whether I stay here or leave, it doesn't matter." I said bitterly, holding back the tears as I think of all the things I've done wrong over the years. All the misteps, all the preventable tragedies, all the missed opportunities.
"So don't return to them, you could easily leave to a different part of the country, it's a massive world out there, and you could easily slip away." She added, still not buying the reasoning.
"They have eyes and ears at every town in Himjarfell. Every tavern bartender and town mayor under thier thumb, they basically run the whole nation, it wouldn't matter where I went. I joined the order to clear my family's debt, but now thier dead, and I cannot leave. My only hope for a future was to be awarded a position as a valourous one, and retire. The easiest way I could see, was to kill you, the dragon."
"But surely-"
"Oh spare me your optimism, I cannot return to Himjarfell. I have no hope for a future, a burnt and bitter past, and an agonizing and painful present."
"Perhaps your past may be painful, and your present frought with peril. But your future remains unwritten." She said as she took a few steps towards me.
"What's there left to be written but my execution? I'm dead in all but the details." I said bitterly, tears now freely flowing from me.
"How about this instead, you've clearly got a lot of potential, most don't even reach the hoard, let alone get a good hit in on me. In respect to your skill, I offer you a position, become my faithful guard, and live." She finished as she stretched out her hand to me. And after a few moments of contemplation, I took it.
---
Will continue in the morning.
|
Twijasosm
|
the_lonely_poster
|
2024-04-04 03:58:27
|
2024-04-04 03:27:29
| 35 | 24 |
kxyqp60
|
kxymsc5
|
1bv7yqv
|
1bv7yqv
|
[WP] You were sure your girlfriend knew your secret identity, so you were happy to flirt with her both in and out of costume. But today she confessed to cheating on you. With you.
|
We've always had differing opinions on what is the right thing to do.
My girlfriend believed in following the rules. I found success in breaking them. But her pure dedication in trying when the odds are stacked against her always made me feel so lucky to have her as my partner. Even after struggling so hard she made it. I was so happy when she told me she had a new top secret job.
Then I saw her face in battle, I was shocked. Of course that woman wouldn't wear a mask. She's too stubborn. But I couldn't help take in her outfit. She looked so good fighting other people. My people but who wouldn't forgive her.
I walked towards her and said "You come here often?," the same silly cliche pickup line I told her on our first date.
At the time, I thought that her laugh meant she understood that I was me. I was so excited to have her finally find out. I didn't want to worry her but now it's kinda fun doing this game where she pretends we don't know each other.
It even lead to a very romantic kiss on the rooftop. But after she ran away telling me that it was wrong. I thought that the height scared her. I knew she was afraid of heights.
I wanted to apologize but she was long gone. So here I am moping in bed worried I upset the woman I love.
The gentle knock on the door made me sit up as she entered our bed room.
"We need to talk," she said.
I sat up straighter as goosebumps shoot through me. Did I mess up this badly?
"Uh sure thing," I sound so nervous.
"I don't know how to properly say this," she said refusing to look at me "I cheated on you."
"What!" I shot up now from my bed. There's no way she would would she?
But she doesn't lie to me, especially not with this. My first instinct was to break who ever seduced her.
"Who?" I said as I try to keep calm.
She held my hand gently and I hate how easy it is for her to calm me down right now. I need to hold on my anger or else I'll crumble in front of her.
"Tell me please?" I asked again as my voice trembles giving away what I feel inside.
"Lady Chaos," she said pain written all over her face.
Wait what?
But the thing is, that's my villain name. I had to ask again "who?"
"Lady Chaos, black outfit likes to break things, wears a fire style mask," she said "I, this isn't her fault okay?, I let her flirt with me."
My sadness was quickly replaced with shock. She thought I was ohhhhhhh.
I just bursted out laughing which earned me a confused face.
"I'm not joking!" She yelled at me.
But she just looked too cute and I couldn't help but laugh even more. "Baby," I said to get her attention to my face.
I deliberately and slowly tap an app on my phone. Which activated my mask.
Her eyes got so wide. I couldn't stop laughing.
"I think we'll figure this out and we have a lot to talk about," I said pulling her into a warm embrace and a head kiss.
|
\- "You're joking, right?" - I asked. Obviously, she was not. She started to cry, saying that she just saw the opportunity but never though that she would actually date a superhero, but she saw that it was wrong, that kind of thing. I just stayed there, surprised - what did she meant? She didn't... know? - "Hey, it's alright, I tough you already knew that. But it's ok - I am Shadow, the Hero!" - and then, it was her time to get surprised.
\- "Honey... you're not..." - she moved her hands to her mouth - "You're not... I decided to confess *because* I saw you going to your work yesterday, when Shadow..."
\- "was defeating a lizard monster? Yep, that was me. I left you at the beach, kissed you on the lips, ran faster than sound to the middle of the water, jumped high in the air, screamed 'die, you monster!' and then landed a kick between his eyes. Is it a complete description so you'll believe me?"
\- "Honey... Shadow didn't land a kick, he was pushed aside by the monster. He created a copy of himself, to finish the lizard. You... you were not fighting the monster!".
She was lying, of course, and I tried to laugh... but then I saw she was serious. She also recorded the whole thing, and I could see... she was right. But how did I remember doing that? How did I had memories of fighting the lizard, and had no memories of going to work?
But then... who went to work that day? Did I... forget? I mean, we *did have dinner* together on a restaurant next to...
... my workplace ...
\- "I think... I think I'm not feeling too well..." - and then, reality seemed to dissipate from my eyes. The lizard monster, my work, even my love, all seemed like distant memories, fading to nothingness, and I think I lost consciousness...
\---
One day, the dream needs to end. That day is today.
I am not a hero. Am I not a secret identity. I also don't have a girlfriend, or even *am* the girfriend.
I am all of these things. And at the same time, I am none of these.
I remember all - kissing the hero, running on the water, attacking the hero, dodging, creating a copy, and landing the kick. I remember going to work, working a boring day where a client received the wrong product. I remember being on the telephone, screaming that my product was wrong, and it was the third time already, why that company was not able to get it right once?
I remember taking orders of a happy couple on table 3, but worried by the girlfriend's expression, like she was holding a secret stronger than her. I remember taking the couple to their home, got a huge tip for driving safely.
When I woke at the hospital, I decided to forget all of these things. I decided to be just a girl, crying for the lost of her boyfriend, that hit her head when he lost consciousness, and the loss of her lover, that self-destructed to finish the supervillain once and for all.
I decided to walk the ghost city, where only I existed...
|
xxKiaraSxx
|
mauricioszabo
|
2023-08-04 04:10:24
|
2023-08-03 23:30:57
| 62 | 35 |
jupvqgi
|
juow2wz
|
15h81r9
|
15h81r9
|
[WP] Evil was so rampant even the gods left. But a hero trained in secret. With sheer strength and determination, he single-handedly rid the world of all evil and was crowned the new leader. Now flourishing, the gods have come back with demands of service and prayer. That was a big mistake.
|
The gods came for us, but not for our safety, they came for our worship. When they left they left us behind, leaving us to fend against the forces of the Hordes. Then a hero rose up and defended us, but he stood not in support of noble justice but in angry defiance of the Deserters.
When the fights were won, the Hero of Rage sat on a throne and watched the world. He protected it but still seemed to be waiting for an enemy, perhaps the gods who had forced him to step up.
The Deserters finally came back, demanding service and prayer, lest another evil come about. The Hero raised his weapon towards the gods and spoke a warning to them.
"You dared to abandon us and now you dare to return and reclaim your throne? In your absence, a soldier was crowned king, now leave before that king becomes a soldier once more."
|
Zeus, Hera, Artemis, and Hephaestus stood in front of the throne. On the throne was a teenage boy, Kochi. He wore a skintight blue suit. He wore a biker helmet. "We beg of you to give up the throne", said Hephaestus. "Never", he said, "I am more powerful than even gods." "How is that possible?", asked Artemis. "It is my Sentai Crystal", he said, raising his wrist that he faced toward the gods. There was a green crystal attached to the wrist. He pointed at it. "As long as I act like a sentai protagonist, I remain powerful." A man walked up to Kochi.
"Sire, we need your approval of this bill", he said, showing him a piece of paper on a clipboard. "Of course", said Kochi. He raised is open hand in the air. A pen appeared into it. "Super Decree Attack!", he shouted. He furiously signed the paper. "This is ridiculous", said Hera.
|
SafeSubject4790
|
ShySilverSurvivor
|
2023-02-14 07:25:52
|
2023-02-13 21:06:17
| 23 | 16 |
j8h6tr6
|
j8f3ft3
|
111caf6
|
111caf6
|
[WP] For the last year, you've been enjoying the life of adventure and heroism in a fantasy world that you've always dreamed of. That is, until the healer in your party accidentally removed a perception curse that's been with you since the day of your summoning.
|
"No... this can't be happening, not now!" Cori sobbed as she rummaged through her old satchel, looking for her sigil of healing that used to never leave her side.
Of course that was before we had won, before we had left our grand adventure behind us.
Yet, the burden of a crown came with the price of eternal danger and it had caught up with us at last. Or rather, it had caught up with me.
Lord Ekorts had seen his moment and had taken it. Though his coup had failed when the other nobles of the blood proved more loyal to me, the slayer of the dread god Amoc, lord of silence, than to him, it didn't change the fact that in a few minutes he would be guilty of regicide.
I, of course, would be dead, having known the burden of kingship for all of six days upon returning from the nightmare lands in triumph.
Truthfully the crown had never mattered, but I could never say no to the people I fought to protect and it pleased me to think that humble Cori would be queen.
She'd be a good queen, even if I couldn't be there for her now.
Everything felt so dull, so cold. Yet it comforted me to know that both she and our little ones would endure. They were a part of this world, after all. I had been just an unintended summons, an interloper pulled by a botched spell from old Romut.
He was long gone now. Spirited away by beings wrapped in white and blue.
I miss him. Though he was a pain in the neck to deal with, he was never malignant.
Cori seems to be shouting and crying over me. She seems to have found the sigil.
"Omni Medela!"
She practically sobbed the incantation, but it turned to joy as my wound began to mend.
The spell of ultimate healing. It seems she hadn't lost her touch.
For a moment, everything was right in the world, everything was perfect. Despite this, Cori is still crying, and looking at me with such grief and guilt.
I tried to reach out to hug her, yet my arms do not obey. Despite the feeling of something choking my throat, I tried to speak, to tell her how much I...
"Wait... what is that noise. That strange sound of beeping?"
|
Twas a merry day, and a merrier night
The tavern was lively, the people packed tight
Sarah my healer, my friend, stood stock still
Never afraid, I the hero, gave the crowd their fill
​
The dragon oh mighty, stood not a chance
Though the dragon's flame hungrily licked at my stance
I raised thy blade and held it high
I had no fear as my shield blocked it, and let out a sigh
​
The blade hacked and the blade sawed
The reaper beckoned and the reaper called
Sarah and I, an unbeatable duo,
Nothing can stop us, for I am the hero
​
In the corner, she let out a whisper,
My mind clouded, and I felt great sorrow
My sister, her husband, my friend, and my wife
No more were they with us, no more had they life
​
For when the dragon's lair, entrance did we gain,
My wife died, died screaming in pain,
I looked around at those travelling with me
I valued them more, than some town to be free
​
The town still needed saving, so we came to an agreement
The healer we convinced to curse us, she gave us the treatment
She would go without, she would bear the harrow
The pain she bared, I could see her now, left hollow
​
My singing of the tale, had ceased since then,
The bar quiet, the crowd chilled, an eerie zen
I began to cry, as I mourned my fellows
My wailing rapidly turned to outrageous bellows
​
Sarah slipped away, her tears already shed
For, after all she was a hero, or so I had said
She gathered a new party, the curse fresh in her mind
Swore to not cast it, not again, not this time
​
Well, as you have it, another town needed saving
A dragon had raided them, they came to her screaming
A party was gathered, with Sarah in charge
She set to slay the dragon, onward they'd barge
​
Another tragedy they suffered, the pain was atrocious
They asked her to help them, to give them true focus
She looked on and smiled, she cursed them, she said
I will help, for I am a hero, my tears already been shed
​
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please give me constructive feedback :D
|
Creative_Slump
|
procrastinating_eggs
|
2023-05-16 05:07:05
|
2023-05-16 04:05:35
| 31 | 15 |
jkbwbrx
|
jkbqpx7
|
13ica1i
|
13ica1i
|
[WP] Your job description: 1) Sit in an empty room with a red button for 8 hours a day. 2) NEVER press the red button, no matter what happens. 3) Do not talk to anyone about the job. After many uneventful years, your phone rings and a stern, slightly panicked voice says: „Press the button. NOW!!“
|
Cabbar was a man of contradictions. He was a man of great focus. He was also a natural day dreamer. He was good at focusing on a single task at his hand because he was good at multitasking. He was able to daydream while he was focusing on his mind bogglingly boring job at the same time.
His job description was sitting at an empty room with a red button, never pressing the said button no matter what happens and not talking about his job to anyone, ever. It was the most boring job in the universe. He would be the first one to admit it but nevertheless, he never had a dull moment while doing his job. Sometimes a screen would appear on the walls out of nowhere and instruct him to push the button. He wouldn't push the button. Silly monitor, he would speak to himself. My job is not pressing the button. He would not press the button with a great zeal. He was good at focusing on the rules. The monitor would soon vanish anyway. It would go away as soon as he stopped paying attention to it and boy, he was not good at paying attention. He would often dream about doing other, more productive things as his job was so boring, so unproductive. He loved daydreaming though so he loved his job.
Sometimes some cards appeared on his hands. They would contain detailed descriptions of what would happen if he just pressed the button. If he just pressed the button he would have everything he dreamed about. Too bad he never read the cards. Silly cards, he would speak to himself. My job is not pressing the button. The room is supposed to be empty except for the button I am not supposed to press. They cannot exist according to rules. The cards would stop existing as soon as he stopped paying them attention. In time he got good at not paying attention so he could focus on not pressing the button. Gods, he loved his job. It gave him some time to daydream. Being able to daydream in peace was everything he ever wanted and this job provided him with an unlimited amount of free time so he worked day and night.
After many, many uneventful years his phone rang. He didn't pay any attention to it. It continued ringing but he became very, very good at not paying attention to anything but his daydreams that it took a very long time for him to finally answer to the phone. A stern, slightly panicked voice said "Press the button. NOW!". Silly man, he thought. I am not supposed to talk about this job with anyone so he just hung up.
The phone never disappeared though. It kept ringing and ringing. It was out of ordinary as things always have disappeared at the end. It took some time for him to notice how out of ordinary this was though as he was busy with daydreaming and not pressing the button. He noticed it anyway, albeit it took him some time. He thus answered the phone. "How are you?" he asked. "OH GREAT GODS! I have been trying to reach you for AGES! You need to press the button now." the stern voiced said. He hung up though. Silly voice, he said to himself. I am not supposed to talk about this job.
He began answering the phone but he would hang up as soon as the voice demanded him to press the button or talked about his job. He would always talk about his daydreams. He talked non stop so that he would have some peace and quiet. He learned how to daydream and not pressing the button while talking. Silly stern voice, he thought. You cannot call me if I am on the call with you. He took great care not talking about anything related to his job though. He followed the rules to the letter so that he had the time to daydream. This frustrated the stern voice to no end. They couldn't speak about the button though as they knew Cabbar would hang up as soon as they mentioned it. They tried mentioning the button every decade or so but all they got was silence.
The gods were pretty content with their button keeper. They had to include a reset button while creating the universe as it was simply how things worked. It worked great until they noticed how some humans enjoyed eating their pizza with pineapples on them. They noticed how they failed miserably this time around as well and wanted to reset the world. There were some gods who sabotaged their universe with some poorly written instructions before so they devised a stronger keeper this time around but the man would surely recognize their voice. So they called their keeper...
|
Josh often felt like his life had no meaning. He went away to college to study literature and he failed an any attempt of social relationships.
The only person that still call him sometimes was his roommate Andy, but Josh thought the only reason was that he felt guilty about all the homeworks he copied from him during the year, and because he had this need to be liked by everyone so he tried too hard to be friendly.
Josh was a pretty good student, actually one of the best, but he didn't think much of that and he consider himself mostly lucky for his result. Nonetheless he graduated with excellent grades. He was hired as a professor.
He dreamt as a child to be like one of those professor you see in movies, that changes the life of their students and live a mark on the world. He didn't felt this as much as then when he was hired, he chose the university because he never had any other lead on what to do so he just went with it.
One day had a heavy fight with his mother that morning, that left him strained and nervous and that eventually led him to clap back, but hours later, against a student. Turn out this student was the son of some important functionaire or something like that, and his father pressed for him to be removed. He never kept contact with his colleagues and he interrupted every contact with his family.
He was at a laundry when he encountered the man who offered him the seemingly perfect job. They both were regular and Josh recognized his face even if they never actually talked to eachother. This time, the man approached him like he were the best of friends, and told him that there was an opening for a task that didn't required any special skills nor to interact or even see other people. The job consisted in sitting in an empty room, with a red bottom at the middle of it for 8 hours a day, without ever pressing the red button and without talking to anyone about the job. He said that no one would accept these condition and that someone even thought he was joking, or worst trying to screw them over, so he was desperate to find a person to hire and that he was basically begging anyone he met. He was really surprised when Josh said he would have take the job. It sounded like a perfect representation of the useleness of his life.
So, from the day after, Josh went to the room with the red bottom, and for the next six years his life went on without any changes. His mom often tried to called over the years, trying to make amend for their fight and asking him what he was doing for a living. He forgave her eventually, and he let her know that, but he refused to elaborate on any questions she may have on his personal life. He often went to the laundry and he often met the man again, they mostly have small talk, and nothing else.
It was another Monday at work, ordinary as every other day. His phone ringed, he sighed before answering. "Mum, I already told you that how I live and what I do is not your concern, just made peace with it and go on". "I'm not your mum Josh, now hurry and press the red bottom in the room". A familiar, panicked voice almost screamed the words, Josh took a while to put his finger on it. "Andy, I believe that's you, right?" "Press the bottom Josh, NOW". He seemed freaked out, in a rush. "I don't know what are you talking about or why are you calling me, so maybe take a breath and drink some water, or alcohol if it better fit your state, and then have a good day. Goodbye Andy" "no, you don't understand, you really need to-..." Josh closed the call.
He finished his shift and went home. He ordered an Hawaiian Pizza by dominos for dinner. For the first time he stopped to thinking about the strange interaction he had at the phone. For the first time in years he asked himself what he was doing, actually, with his life. What the meaning of his job was. What would have happened if he had played the bottom.
The following day he went to work, and after at least an hour of going trought unresolvable questions, he pressed the red bottom. He then took his jacket and left, directed to his mother house. He owned some explanation after all. He texted Andy. "I did as you asked me by the way, even if I totally don't understand how you would possibly knew about anything. do you want to get a beer one of these days?"
And so, Josh's life went on. He often went to the laundry. He never met the man ever again.
Edit: paragraph
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Sinirmanga
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None
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2023-01-02 23:38:37
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2023-01-02 21:02:31
| 125 | 12 |
j2p3qdl
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j2og35e
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101bwam
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101bwam
|
[WP] In a world of dragons, sorcery, war, and monsters, there are many risks and even risk takers. Everyone though, elf, monster, or man knows to avoid those few ancient ruins that contain symbols of suffering and a word of the ancients, RADIATION.
|
They were trying to warn us.
Our ancestors were great. Our scholars say they had not yet learned of the ley lines pulsating with powerful mana through the land outside of folk tales. But our ancestors were able to mimic even our strongest of magical abilities through means unknown. These abilities must have come at a steep cost, however.
They were trying to warn us.
We discovered the hard way what these costs must have been. My team and I found an old tomb, a mountainous cavern in which the writings of the ancients guarded the door. We attempted to study the meanings but could not quite deduce their message. We should have taken longer in trying to figure it out. We were arrogant in our pursuit of knowledge.
They were trying to warn us.
These poisonous caverns killed all the members of my team except for myself. Even I can feel myself fading, and writing this warning in my field notes journal has taken several hours for a short passage. I leave this here, near my corpse, as a message to anyone who becomes curious of the hieroglyphic's meaning. Ahead there is nothing but accursed misery and death. The rune of warding shown around the entrance to the cavern is a remnant of those who came before, who understood more the toxins that were in this place.
They were trying to warn us. And now I am trying to warn you.
|
The ancients before us were better. We've known that for as long as even *can.* Ironically, the pursuit of what came before only drags us farther from it. War, fought over and over for what our ancestors had.
Grand flying machines, beasts of unfathomable speed, steels of unparalleled strength. We scavenge the ruins, piecing together their technology from information and guides scattered throughout the world.
This mad pursuit of technological reclamation has driven towards what else they've left behind, including manuals and books. Linguistic analysis is still ongoing. Still, there was one thing even the ancients clearly feared to at least some extent.
Those who have felt say it doesn't like much at first, but it slowly creeps like a miasma. Our scouts bring back signs, text. The symbol seems to be universal. A single circle, surrounded by three 2D-cone like things. Everywhere these are placed, usually in large facilities where some machinery or *something* was operated, is filled with what is called in many different languages, RADIATION.
Their texts reveal that radiation is more of a force than a thing, that it is emitted by a certain radioactive objects. Radiation can apparently be blocked using certain materials, things like lead, but something to shield a being is yet to be discovered.
To this day, these ruins still remain permeated with this radiation. Little lives there for long.
Well, little are unaffected.
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Chuk741776
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Skyshock-Imperative
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2023-05-03 16:30:59
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2023-05-03 16:15:53
| 821 | 132 |
jiprk7h
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jipp7o7
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136lj9v
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136lj9v
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