Chainstory Short4 Infiltration

Simon looked at the grey building in front of him. The Gas Masks were patrolling the premises from all sides. Simon took a deep breath and walked in. A Gas Mask stopped and looked at him before giving him a quick salute and continuing its patrolling. Simon walked on. He didn't have to worry. The disguise he was wearing had saved his head before and it wasn't going to fail him now. Without stopping for anything he walked on towards the surveillance room. On his previous travels here he had checked all of the other rooms. This was the only room left.

"Peter!"

Simon stopped and held his breath. For a second he thought the real Peter had returned.

"Peter what are you doing here? I thought you went out to check on the Semi-Portal?"

Simon slowly turned around. There was a girl about the same age as him standing outside. He put on that annoyingly charming voice that Peter used. "Hello, Amanda how has it been?" he asked. Amanda didn't smile. Her hard face never showed any emotion, but Simon knew behind that hard mask there was a lot of pain and grief. Simon always felt guilty when he saw her. It was his fault that she was like this. Yet he could never forgive her for what she did that day. He remembered it every time he saw those purple eyes. Over the years they had lost their spark but they still had a strange brightness in them which shined through the car wheel framed glasses she was wearing. Simon knew why. He knew the amount of power those eyes had. They had caused a lot of pain for him and for many others. Those despicable eyes. Those innocent eyes that were used by heartless maniacs till they lost all the innocence in them. They reminded Simon of himself. The little boy who lost everything and was forced to do things he never imagined he would ever do. Crimes he never thought he would ever commit.
"I finished checking on the Semi-Portal. I have returned because I need to think about what we are going to do next."

"Did they come?''
"Who?"

"The kids Peter. The kids Simon was sending off to the Southern sector. Did they come?"

Simon almost choked. Peter knows about the kids? Oh crap! This is bad.

"Uh...yes they did come," Simon replied hiding the his fear under his robotic voice.

Amanda stared at him for a while. "Good. I changed the trajectory of the Portal as you requested."
Changed the trajectory? "Oh...that's great.''

"Now we will just have to wait and let The Watchman do his thing. Then we will not have to worry about any new mutants standing in our way."
So that's their plan. Damn it! I fell right into it. "That's good news. I'll go see check in the surveillance room to see if the Watchman has got to them yet."

Simon left Amanda and walked to surveillance room. Goddamn-it! I let Damian and the others to walk straight into a trap! Simon you idiot! Okay don't panic. Maybe the Watchman hasn't got them yet. I can't do anything to save them in the position I am in right now. looks like it's all up to fate now.

"Hey Peter! Aren't you going to check on the Gas Mask army that's coming this way?" he heard Amanda call out.

Oh great. I forgot all about that.

Simon looked back at Amanda. "Why don't you do it this time? I really need a break."
"A break? Peter are you feeling okay?"
"No. And that's why I need a break. Now go do what I asked you to like good little girl," when he said that Simon changed his tone into the low growl like Peter always did when he ordered someone to do something. Simon knew Amanda adored that voice, or at least feared it.

Amanda hesitated for a while before walking away.

Simon ran into the surveillance room. He started searching for anything that could show him in the direction of Scar jaw. "I'm sorry Damian but I can't help you anymore," he muttered as he searched for clues. He knew Scar Jaw was headed towards the fabled escape spot on the island. If he could get there before Scar Jaw could he may still have a chance at beating GeneTech and that thing they are working with.
That thing.
Simon put his hand on his neck. Thinking about that thing reminded him of that other thing that resided within him. He heard it in his sleep and when he was alone. It spoke to him. He had tried to block it out but it was nearly impossible. The creature was an entirely separate being. He could feel the mark on his neck. He was careful enough not to apply pressure to it. If he did he would have had to deal with that thing for the rest of the day. However despite his hatred for the creature he was still a little bit grateful for its existence within him. If it wasn't for this thing he would have easily fallen for power of Amanda eyes all those years ago. Also only with the help of this creature he had any chance at beating that other creature GeneTech was working with.

"You certainly are a very rude guest you know," said a long sleepy voice from the doorway. Simon froze. He knew exactly who that voice belonged to. Ah Fudge-sickles! Not him. Not now.

Simon slowly got up and turned around. There at the doorway stood another boy who was the exact mirror image of himself except his dark glowing red hair was not a wig and his skin wasn't pale like a bleached skeleton. Peter strode into the room followed by Amanda close behind. Simon could see the rage burning in her eyes pointed directly at him. He knew these two were no match for him, not even Amanda with her deadly eyes, but experience had taught him to never underestimate his enemies. Especially if one of those enemies was a carefully calculated psychopathic genius called Peter Slaw. Peter grinned at the other boy as he came towards him. "Long time no see Simon old friend, how old Sewage Breath and Rat Face. Tell them I said hi, that is of course if you could get out of here alive. Heeehahahaha..."

Rogue Agents Chapter 1

Hey guys, this is a story that I have been working on. Hope you like it!

In two different countries of the world, at night,two people went into their ''safehouses'', claiming it was for a ''very important meeting''. True, but they had not seen the person dressed in full black, hiding. A person in each location. No one had. They did not know, how eventful this meeting was going to be.

In New York, Carmine Marcone walked into a old abandoned warehouse, which he had been using as his base of operations. He fit right into the general Mafia look, full three piece suit, cigar, and pure white hair. And horn-rimmed glasses. As his amoral actions and economic torture of the people of Hell's Kitchen demonstrates, four eyes, zero soul.
He had his two men stationed at each door, armed with guns and Kevlar. Nobody was getting in without his say-so. He had just walked in when one of his assistants timidly approached him, dressed in an Armani suit with skirt and high heels, her dark hair tied up into a bun." Mr.Marcone, sir. I know you have a meeting that you need to go to, but there is something that requires your attention.''It clearly pained her to say this. Marcone fixed her with a glare, but followed her anyway. He was taken to a corner of the warehouse, where he found two of his men with their guns trained on two teenaged girls crouching, hugging each other, looking utterly terrified.'' We found these two girls lying asleep here. They look to have been living on the streets, fending for themselves, and came in here for shelter. What should we do with them?" She looked disgusted, as if she was being forced against her will to do this. Marcone does not notice, but instead looks closely at the girls. They look around sixteen, both looked dirty and tired. One had short and dirty blonde hair cut into a bobcut, while the other had long and flowing black hair. They were barefoot, and their feet were bleeding, and they looked to be wearing nothing but dirty and tattered nighties. Backs against the wall, they looked scared for their lives. As they should be.
"Deal with them later. And you two, leav them here, come with me." Marcone said. His assistant and guards looked at him, shocked. The assistant and the girls look secretly relieved. One of the guards stammers-" B-but why? We could just finish t-this right now! One clean headshot each!'' But them stops, when Marcone raises his right hand, the one with the black armour gauntlet." What's your hurry? Mine is that I have a meeting to get to. Don't worry, these little brats won't go anywhere. They're far too scared.'' He crouches down to get face to face with them, and sneers." Too scared to leave, for fear of what might happen if they tried. Too scared to move, we might just shoot them for the hell of it. They are paralysed with fear." He then reaches out and grips the heads of the girls, their breathing rate spikes."Just like this district. Just like this city. We do what we want, and the people are too scared to stop us. We're the Black Gauntlet, and we have their hearts clenched in our fists.'' He let go of their heads, and stood up. Abruptly, he pulled out his gun and shot his assistant in the leg. She fell to the floor, screaming and clutching her thigh.
 Marcone holstered his gun." That was for lying to me. This did not require my attention." He gestured to one of the men(the man that wanted the headshot) to follow him, who broke out of his shock and followed. One of the guards stayed behind, guarding the door. The poor girls were crying now. The assistant, clutching her bleeding leg, crawled over to them, and put her coat around the both of them and hugged them."Shh, don't worry it's gonna be okay."
The guard's face softened, and he tossed the girls his bottle of water and Subway Meatlovers. The street urchins thanked him, and started eating and drinking.It was stopping the crying, at least.
                                                                                                               ***
In Tokyo, a man was kneeling at the feet of another, begging for mercy. He begged in Japanese:" Oh please, sir, let me go. I have kids to feed!" The man standing above him was cold and unmoving. Pure black suit suit with a red shirt, a scar above his eye, and red irises, he looked like a demon. He fulfilled his Yakuza epithet, "The Shinigami" (Death God)in more ways than one." That is not my concern. My concern is that you stole rations from my supply, that my men would need. That is an offence, and by the power vested in my, by me, I am at full rights to dole out whatever punishment I see fit." He gripped the katana that his subordinate was holding out, and then stabbed the kneeling man somewhere around the abdomen. He screamed in agony. "And I have deemed that you shall die a slow and painful death. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend." He went inside the factory, leaving a guard standing there. The guard saluted as the Shinigami passed him, and as soon as he was inside, the guard rushed to the bleeding man, got out some plaster from his pocket and put it on the injured area to temporarily staunch the bleeding. He then put the man's arm around his own, and helped him to the guard's care. The guard put the bleeding man in the passenger seat, got behind the wheel, and floored it. As he sped off towards the hospital he thought, he may work for Kanji Ryu, the Shinigami, but he cannot stand to let innocents die when he can stop it.
The hidden person who was in front of the factory was glad.
                                                                                                              ***

In a large open room, with a dozen guards stationed around them, both Ryu and Marcone sat at the conference table, and turned on Skype. They both accepted their respective calls, and linked it up with their flat screen TV as a monitor. Marcone leaned back, feet on the table. "Wazzup, Mr.Ryu?"
Ryu looked amused." Greetings, Marcone. I see that you have no tension regarding this meeting."
Marcone yawned." No, not really. But-" He quickly straightened himself." I do have a proposition for you."
Ryu leaned forward." Pray tell, what is it?"
"We form an alliance." Marcone said." I realize that both of us are in the top tier of Mafia groups in our respective locations. if we join up, we rule it all. It would also help to build international alliances with the Yakuza and the Mafia. So, what do you say?"
Ryu thought about it for a second, then said." Sure, sounds interesting....partner."
Marcone smirked." Excellent. Now, about the-" but he stopped before he finished, as he had seen his security system, and noticed that his guards at the main entrance were dead."Wait, what?" Then he looked more closely, and he notices that there was something...no, someone.. moving across his safehouse, like a shadow. Probably just some guy in full black.  Some guy in full black that was decimating his guys in the front hallway.
He pressed a button on his intercom, and started yelling into it: "YOU IDIOTS?! ARE YOU REALLY GONNA LET SOME TWO BIT HACK BISMERCH THE NAME OF THE BLACK GAUNTLET? FIX THIS!"
A voice came out of the intercom."But Sir, we can't even see him!"
Marcone offhandedly says: "Then get glasses. I don't care about your eye problems, idiot. Now I order you to FIX this!" He hangs up, then apologetically looks at Ryu. "Sorry about that intruder got in." But Ryu didn't hear him. He was too busy observing his own security monitor. Where another black cloud was absolutely wrecking his guards.
                                                                                                       ***
"Well?! What did he say, Randy?!" yells the guard that is running towards another one, holding an intercom phone. The poor sap known as Randy is trembling, replaces the phone, and yells back;" He told us to fix it, Kevin. I guess we have to look for the guy now." They both put on a brave attempt, and bring their guns out of their holsters. They cautiously move around and eventually, they start looking in through the doors. Kevin moves a bit farther away, and asks behind him if Randy sees anything. Randy says no.Suddenly, Randy sees something flicker on the wall behind him. Someone's shadow. Not his own. He turns around and shoots thrice. The bullets all hit the wall. He sighs in relief. Too soon. A pair of hands come out of the room behind him and pull him in, covering his mouth. He is silenced when the man inside slits his throat. Kevin looks behind and sees that Randy is no longer there. he rushes back to check, and looks inside the room. He finds Randy's corpse. He doesn't scream, however, but turns around and fires at what he rightfully suspects is the killer. He misses. There is no one there. He looks puzzled, and moves forward, close enough for the assassin to drop from the roof and stab him in the heart. The killer, dressed in full stealth gear, plus mask, turns on his ear piece." Lida, I need you to patch me into the sound system." "Got it." he received as a reply." Oh, and how's Kate doing over at Osaka? "Oh, just massacring their butts."
                                                                                                         ***
The guards are just hanging around in the break room, which just so happens to be directly connected to the front hallway. They were hanging out, having some beer, and watching Harry Potter 5 on the TV. "Oh, man!" goes one of the guards, who points at the screen triumphantly. "Ginny is laying down some serious hurt on the Death Eaters." One of the other guards goes. "Well, it was pretty simple to guess. Most redheads are like that.." "Yeah," another guard goes wistfully," I like me a redhead."Then,They suddenly hear someone say:
"Then you're gonna love me."
The lights go off, and much scuffling is heard. Gunshots are fired, and screams are screamed, and halted as the screamers fall to the ground. The lights are then turned back on. And all of the men are dead. This was not a sight meant to cheer anyone up. Amidst the corpses stood a woman dressed in full stealth gear, and, like her colleague in New York, was wearing a full face mask and horizontal goggles. A few strand of her fiery hair were showing, she tucked them back in. "Want me to patch you in to the sound system too?" Lida asks from mission control. "Sure," Kate says. "How's Blake doing?" "Fine. He also wanted me to remind you to go to Akihabara to pick up some stuff on the list." "Yeah, I know. I gotta get some anime on Blu-Ray too." Kate then brings out her dagger, and heads out.
                                                                                                    ***
Zizzo bangs his fist on his desk, and gets out his shotgun." I am surrounded by incompetence. Gotta do everything myself.." Similarly, Ryu gets his katana and stands ready, waiting for the assault. Then, they both hear something on their intercom. The exact same lines, different people.
"Gentlemen. You have eaten well. You and your kind have eaten the world's wealth. Its spirit. Your feast is nearly over. From this moment on, none of you are safe."
They start hearing footsteps, thud thud thud. The speakers are coming closer, and closer.
"Your crime are the scum of this world, the bacteria that contaminates it. You prey on the weak, and build yourself up as the mighty. You have spread, far and wide. Your web has covered much of the world. The authorities cannot stop you. The government cannot stop you. Not even an army can stop you. Not completely. But we can."
Outside of Zizzo's room, the guard that is standing at attention with the girls sees Blake coming. He throws his gun down, and flees outside. He is safe. The same cannot be said of Zizzo, as Blake slips by, the girls staring in fascination.
Ryu and Zizzo are both scanning their large rooms. They see shadows pass by, and they keep attacking. But they keep missing. All around the room, it seems. It seems that the assassins are-
"Everywhere. We are Xianthel, and to cleanse the earth of your kind, we will make you think, that we are everywhere."
Then, in both rooms, a shot is fired, and Ryu and Zizzo start falling, a bullet through their heart. "And who is to say, that we are not?" muse the assassins, as they holster their guns."Nice, guys. Quickly, report back to base." "Roger that Lida," says Blake."Oh, and Kate? Remember to meet up with your contact at Tokyo Hospital. We wouldn't have known where Ryu and Marcone's safehouses would be if they hadn't infiltrated the operations. Also, please get the stuff I asked for?" Kate nonchalantly takes off her masks, shakes her hair loose, ans says over her earpiece: "Sure, got it. See you at base." Blake turns his ear piece off, and walks back towards the entrance of the warehouse, to where Marcone's assistant and the two girls still are. Blake gives the assistant his hand, and helps pull her up." Hey, Natalie. Good job, here. How's your leg feeling?" Natalie shakes her dark hair free of her bun, sending it cascading down her back." Nah, it's fine. Listen, I know we have to leave right now, but can I ask you to keep something a secret for me?" "Sure, what is it?" Blake asks. Natalie gestures toward the girls." These poor girls have been fending for themselves off of the street, Blake. I was wondering if I could take them home to my apartment, and if you could keep quiet about it. At least until I'm ready to tell everyone else." Blake crouches down to the girls, and turns to the one with black hair." What's your name, kid?" "Anastasia," comes the cautious reply. He turns to the blonde." And yours?" "Britannia."
Blake pulls off his mask, to reveal a strong jawline, messy brown hair, and cheery blue eyes. He smiles at the girls, and helps pull them up." I hope you enjoy your new home."
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And I hope YOU guys enjoyed it! Leave your opinions in the comments section. Thanks!

for now and hereafter

*walks upon stage disguised as Timmy Turner's dad to protect himself from security. Tests mike.*

And once again an epic holiday season comes to an end and another term at the dreaded brainwashing centre known as the school starts. Okay, so there are some small things to look forward to like friends or lunchtimes or the next term holidays or...well you get my point (if you don't, well I'm not repeating that list). So how did your holidays go? Some of you may have been fighting undead zombies in Nuke Town or went on another adventure with your good friend *sarcastic cough* Dora. Either way all I wanted to say was now starts a new term and a new chance for us to increase our knowledge and start a new journey to be the very best. So for now and hereafter. Cheerio!

Security: Ah hah! found him! Get off the stage you perp!
Me: I'm not the perp. You've got the wrong guy!
Security: Oh please. We all know Mr. Turner isn't smart enough to say words like brainwash or even go to school. Besides somebody tipped you off!
Me: DINKLEBERG!!!
Security: Now are you going to come without any struggle or do you want me to call backup?
Me: Fine. Wait. That's a wierd place to put a piano.
Security: Where?

*Escapes while security is distracted*

Security: I don't see any...Oh not this again. *sighs and chases after offender.*

Chainstory Short3 A News Report

This is slightly different to the previous shorts. This is a short news report.

The attacks have become more frequent. Amount of deaths in Manhatten has gone over serious levels. Of the vicitms rescued only a mere 30% are surviving their wounds. The attacker whom the victims are referring as the Salamander has caused the largest death rate in years. The police are not believing this to be the work of an individual as no individual can cause such a death rate and keep slipping out of the police's hands. They are presuming the enormous green monster which the victims are talking about must be a strange uniform of the organisation. President Bush is believing this is the work of terrorists. In related news military still hasn't been able to get any closer to the GeneTech Island. The freak storms around the island has increased. Not a single plane or ship has gone any closer than 18000000km. The island was colonised by GeneTech six years ago in August 19th 2000. One of the Co-operatives who were in charge of the colonisation, Dr. Samuel was captured in Florida last July. It has been revealed that five of the twelve Co operatives who were in charge of the colonisation  had been murdered but the other six, which includes the CEO of the company Jonas Blunt and his son, the vice president, Ebenezer Blunt have disappeared. Authorities all over the globe are trying get hold of them. GeneTech bank account has been drained of all of it's resources. It is assumed that Jonas Blunt may have found some way of taking all of his money so that his needs can be satishfied. The hunt for the missing prisoners is still going on across the planet. Civilians are worried for their lives since the prison escape and are hoping that the police would be able to recapture the the missing offenders. Families of the civilians trapped in the island are also worried as right before the communication within the island got cut off sudden rumors of supernatural threat within the island started to go across the world. Also people started migrate out of the island at unbelievable rate.
This is Chad Dillmore. Reporting live from Channel 4 news. Good Evening and Good Night.

Well that was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. You may have realised by now the story has been set in 2006 (six years after the colonisation). That was useful to know.

ChainStory Fact File #1 The Discovery of The Island

I figured out a way to help the other writers about the chain story. This will give some extra info on the characters, settings and plot lines of the chain story. If anyone wants to do this while waiting for the next part of the chain story be my guest. Just think up some sensible facts about the settings or characters and post them. Have Fun!

The GeneTech Island has been the property of the GeneTech Corps since 1968. The ownership of the island was purchased by the late George Blunt, the father of the current CEO Jonas Blunt and the grandfather of the Vice president Ebenezer Blunt. The Island consists of 4 separate parts which are commonly known as the Northern Sector, the Southern Sector, the Eastern Sector and the Western Sector. The Island also has a central Zone between the Sectors but this is not considered a sector. This is the boundary line for all of the Sectors.

The Island was discovered by French explorer Phileas Moreau in mid 1890s. The crew of his ship The Cruiser had found themselves in a terrible storm on February 2nd 1894. The ship had been dangerously wrecked and had landed on the shores of a the island. In France the French Trading Centre did not hear from the ship and presumed it had been destroyed in the storm. On the morn of September 27th of the same year another ship called the Silver Eagle landed in France claiming they have found two French men in an Island in the Pacific ocean. The two men were confirmed to be Captain Phileas Moreau and his cabin boy, an English lad, Christopher Cook. When they asked the Captain about his crew he had claimed they had all perished.

The Following is an extract of the Captain's interrogation.

I don't remember how we got to the island. I along with a few others was unconscious most of the way. I assume we landed on the island on the morn of the 3rd of February 1894. We salvaged some tools, weapons and wood from the ship. We built our shelter close to the river after we landed ashore. Some of the men died because of the injuries caused by the storm. The rest of us survived for a while. Then one day my First Mate Johnson Carter advised us to explore the island to find food. The other men were wary of this idea but by the 6th of April our supplies ran out and we were forced to go deeper into the island. We survived by eating the berries. After a while Johnson noticed that we were being stalked by an anonymous adversary. We didn't believe him then but soon men started ranting about seeing an enormous black feline in the forest. I also caught glimpses of it. Once when the creature made an open appearance to us we tried to kill it by shooting. The beast however just shrugged the shots off and walked on. From that point onwards we knew that the beast was not of earth.

They say when a black cat crosses your path bad luck will come. This superstitious belief was proved to correct a few days later when our men found a cave full of strange gems. Some of our men stayed behind believing that the cat was a foreshadowing of something dangerous but the braver ones came with me. When we discovered the cave we thought we were going to be rich but moments after entering the cave some of the men went mad and screamed they were hearing voices. We all left the cave never to return to that damned spot. When we got back to our shelter we found all of our men except young Christopher mutilated. Christopher sobbed in my arms and said how an enormous beast had attacked them. At first I believed it was that dreaded feline but Christopher said that this one looked like a fusion of a hound and an ape. He described the creature as the Bane. He also said that the feline appeared out of nowhere and fought with the beast only to get a gruesome scar across its face. After the battle both the beasts had retreated to the forest with severe injuries. Just before escaping the feline had ripped of a piece from our flag for some reason unknown. When I asked him how he survived, as he was just a boy of 12 and couldn't have taken the monster on his own, he didn't answer.

On 13th of June the rest of us moved deeper into the forest where we were confronted by the strangest of all men. He looked like a man but had a strange mask on him that struck fear in all of our hearts. Then the boy did the most amazing thing we ever saw in our lives. He  pointed his hands at the man and out came a flash of blue killing the man on the spot. We knew then how the boy could have survived the attack of the Bane. We never asked the boy the source of his abilities but knew he wasn't human anymore. On the 18th of July we encountered the feline again. After seeing that we knew exactly why the cat had taken a piece of our flag. It was wearing it down the right side of it's face like an eye patch to cover it's intimidating scar. Soon afterwards we were attacked by a creature that looked like hell itself. Almost all of  us were killed. Christopher, three sailors and myself survived that attack thanks to the help of the boulders on the hill side. the Bane was already injured by it's previous scuffle with the Cat and didn't have enough energy left to chase us.

By mid August two of our men fell ill and died. The three of us still alive knew we didn't have much chance to survive the island anymore. Then one day the third survivor, Robinson Wyss went mad and tried to kill me.  He would've succeeded if it wasn't for Christopher. He used his mysterious ability to kill him. By late August the two of us nearly went mad by starvation and fatigue. I don't know if I hallucinated it or not but just when I was about to succumb into madness I thought I saw what looked like an enormous dark angel. I didn't know what to make of it but fainted soon after. When I woke up again I found myself and Christopher on raft filled with cooked meat and fruits. This kept us alive for the next five days until we were picked up by the crew of the Silver Eagle.

When the interrogators went over this statement they couldn't make heads or tails of it. When they asked the cabin boy he had just remained quiet. It was assumed that both of them had gone insane because of their time on the island. They didn't believe the story about monsters and giant felines so till today the fate of the other sailors has remained a mystery. The two were put in a mental institute for three years until the Captain started to swear his story may have just been a result of hallucinations. The boy however remained quiet. On the third year the Captain was released along with the boy whom the Captain had come to care for. Unfortunately however seven months after their release Christopher committed suicide thanks to depression and possibly because of all the suffering he went through his time in the island. Phileas continued to have voyages and adventures for the rest of his life until he met his horrendous end at the hands of the mysterious Cobra People in the South America.

Reminder of the rules for the Chainstory

This is just to remind everyone of what the rules of the Chainstory are.

• First person to comment continues.
• If someone has already been chosen they must comment to make sure to reserve their spot as the next writer.
• The story doesn't have to continue from exactly where it left off unless you want it to, i.e. it can be a prequel or a parallel story happening in the same setting but in an another part of the world.
• Do not change the name or other important feature of a character previously introduced unless that character has an identity crisis, amnesia or an alias.
• Spin offs can be made if preferred as long as they don't affet the imidiate plot line.
• This spin offs can be shorts, factoids, character bios or whatever.
• If someone has taken your spot as the next wirter in the chain by commenting, then for the sake of fairness let them continue but keep your draft somewhere just in case.
• Anyone can join in.
• The major characters of the previous story doesn't have to be the main characters in the next story.
• The story can be done in 1st, 3rd or even 2nd person despite how the previous wirter wrote it.
• Don't just call it chainstory part 3 or 4. Give it an epic title.
• Not all characters have to be devaloped.

Thats sums it all up. By the way, can somebody come up with a really cool name for the chainstory? I'm not going to make one but going to give the list of names to Miss Jerabek or the sir to evaluate. I'm tired of just calling it Chainstory part 1 Chainstory part 2.

Chainstory Short2 The Mission

Here's another part to my shorts. This focuses on a character who we've already discussed. Enjoy.

He creeped out of the old shack and looked around. It was quiet. the night had settled in. He could hear nocturnal creatures moving about. He put his snout to the air and sniffed. The definitely other creatures around but they weren't dangerous. It was time for the Rat Man to move. He went back into his shack and grabbed all the supplies he needed for the road. He will have to travel faster or may end up failing this mission. Travelling at night was critical. If he was spotted at day time then the situation might get sticky. He didn't want that. Also he was travelling alone so it was safer if nobody saw him. He understood why Simon wanted him to go on this mission but didn't understand why he didn't want the Sewer Master leaving. It would have been easier if he was here. Yet the Rat Man knew he couldn't trust the Sewer Master.  He remembered Simon telling him to get rid of the Portal key to prevent the Sewer Master from escaping. Now there was no way either of them would escape. Why would Simon want me to hide it? Whatever the reason was his loyalties lied with Simon. Not with the Sewer Master. He was not to be trusted. Also from what he heard from Simon there was another key somewhere on the island but he knew Simon was never going to use it even if he did find it. Simon had other plans.

Now Rat Man had to finish this mission. He remembered what Simon had told him. "Find the Salamander and eliminate him. We have to help Caleb in any way can. He maybe our only chance to stop Blunt, save the world and my only chance to get back with my brother."

Rat Man hadn't been convinced. "Are you sure we could trust this Caleb kid? What if he was just another one of Blunt's little pawns?"

"I don't know who to trust," Simon admitted. "But you saw the information I found about him. We can only get information from outside but can't send any from the island to the outside, and it seems this kid has that very information we've been after and apparently had been trying to contact the military. If he's doing this then we have to do everything in our power to help him and if the Salamander is trying to get kill him then we have to save him."

Rat Man wasn't so sure but knew if Simon wanted something done he got it done. "Fine, but what if the kid's already dead. What then?"

Simon didn't know how to answer that so he had just looked at Rat Man and had simply asked him, "Are you doing this or not?"

Next thing Rat Man knew he was the test pilot for the Portal. He had warned Simon that the device can only be used twice in a lifetime and that the destination may not even be precise but Simon just asked him the same question he had asked him before. Now Rat Man was somewhere in North America. The transportation didn't go that wrong. They had just overdid it by a few thousand miles. Now he was stuck somewhere north of New York which was where he should be. Rat Man remembered all the photographs he had seen about New York from the information The Sewer Master had taken from the Internet. There was no doubt that the Salamander was there. He had seen the images of the destroyed buildings and the dead bodies. Only a monster could have done this and the fact it was still attacking when they found out about this proved that it was still after Caleb. In other words Caleb was alive. Rat Man didn't tell this to Simon however because he had hoped Simon would call off the mission but it hadn't gone that way.

Rat Man took a deep breath and walked into the woods. He had to get to New York fast. He could only hope that Caleb was still alive. I know you are doing this to save humanity Simon. May luck be by your side in your course.

Escape From Hell(Chain Story Part 2)

Yes! I'm finally finished! Enjoy, everyone!
                                                                     ***
 Roger sat with his back to one of the walls, hugging his knees, his eyes and expression were shell-shocked. Arnold was hugging Jamie, either out of happiness that his little brother was safe, or because he needed to remind himself that all was not lost today. Brianna was curled up on the ground, the kids sitting around her.Everyone else from their team, as well as them, were sobbing. They had just learned about the losses of Diana, Samson, and Damian, and they just couldn't believe it. Today, each of them had lost something, family members, friends, someone close to them. Now was the time to mourn.
                                                         ***
Arnold felt numb, desperately clinging to Jamie for warmth. He had just lost three of his friends, his best friend Damian was amongst them. Samson and Diana were gone as well, he would never see them again. He had to try and be strong, as the leader, but that just wasn't possible right now.
He started reminiscing, about how he had first met his best friend;

Arnold had been nine. His mum and dad were alive, and well. They had been at the airport, on a plane, flying to arrive on this island. Looking back on it now, they should never have gone.
His parents, Joshua and Beatrice Carpenter, were talking to the man standing behind the counter, trying to get seats on the plane. Arnold was bored, fiddling with the zips on his mother's suitcase. He had his mother's green eyes, and his father's sandy hair. His mother had always said that he looked like a little bunny. Arnold was more often than not, not amused. He was a very serious child, and his parents were worried that he would never make friends. Arnold didn't really care.
"Ya know, you won't get any fun outta playing with those, right?''
Arnold turned, to see who was talking behind him. It was a boy, around the same age as him. He had raven hair, and blue eyes. He was holding a jack-in-the box in his hands, and had a big grin on his face.''How about playing with my toy?"
Arnold yawned.'' Hello, nice to meet you. But please, a jack-in-the-box? Those things are so lame."
The boy shook his head."Not mine, I fixed it up. Wanna see?"
Curious, Arnold turned the knob, while the song played. When the song stopped, the top opened. But, instead of a clown..
BAM! ROAR!!! A giant monster head came out, and a pair of  barrel sized scaly arms came out and clutched Arnold's throat. He could have sworn it was real, and he gasped, nearly screaming, and moved back. The other people in the line looked at him alarmingly.
Arnold pointed a shaking finger at the jack-in-the-box.''Muh-muh-monster!!!''
The boy was laughing. He waved at the others in the line.''Don't worry, it's not real.'' They all relaxed.
The boy showed Arnold the box.''It's just a hologram that I built. It looks and feels real, but it's not.'' He smiles.''Didja like it?''
Arnold heart was stilling pounding from the shock. He glared at the boy, and started chasing him around. They both ran around the lobby, but eventually stopped to catch their breath.
Panting, Arnold turned to the boy.''Ya..know, that wasn't.... such a..bad joke.''Arnold grinned.''It was actually..pretty funny. I'm Arnold.''
The boy said:''Nice to meet you, Arnold, I'm Damian.''
They shook hands.'' Wanna be friends?'' Arnold asks.
Damian's eyes lit up.''Yes! That's what I was planning would happen in the first place!" They high-fived each other, both beaming.
''He-hey, little man, what'cha doin'?" Damian is suddenly lifted off of the ground and held up high in the air by a smiling man that looked like an older version of him. Beside the man was a pretty lady that looked sort of like Snow White,complete with the raven hair and snowy skin. She said: "Ooh, made a new friend, Damian?"
She looked at Arnold, very happily, and stuck out her hand, and "Very nice to meet you. I'm Shaylee Parker, Damian's mom, but you can call me Shaylee if you want. What's your name?"
He shakes her hand,"Arnold Carpenter, ma'am. Umm, sorry, Miss Shaylee?"
She smiles and nods. Suddenly, he feels a playful bonk on his head,heard someone say: "Arnie", and turns around, and sees his dad kneeling behind him, grinning. His mom was behind him.
Joshua Carpenter was a very fun man. His motto was ''There's no point in being mature if you can't be immature ''sometimes''." He treated everyone as an equal, and always kneeled when he was talking to someone shorter, so that he could look them in the eye.
" Gonna introduce me to this young man, Arnie?" Joshua ruffles his son's hair, and grins at Damian.
"Hi, Mr.Carpenter!" Damian presented his hand to Joshua. "I'm Damian Parker, Arnie's new friend."
Joshua's eyes widened as he shook the little boy's hand, with a smile so big it looked like it would split his face in half. He stood up and shook both of the Parker's hands." Hello, I'm Joshua Carpenter, call me Joshua, or just ''Josh'', if you like. Damian's father fist-pumps him, and says: "Nigel Parker, call me Nigel. This, as you might assume, is my wife Shaylee."
''Awesome to meet you!'' Arnold's mom jumps forward and shakes both their hands gleefully, while carrying baby Jamie in her other hand.''Any friend of Arnie's is a friend of mine, and so are their parents!" She then starts playing with Damian, with Arnold and his dad not being able to repress a smile. They also found out that they were all going on the same plane, so Arnold and Damian got to sit together.
Beatrice ''Bea'' Carpenter was like a ray of happiness, energy, and joy. Her hair was golden like sunlight, her eyes blue like the sky. She was always upbeat, always happy. If Arnold was ever upset, she would say: ''Arnie.... fun time!!'', and start tickling him like crazy until he started laughing. Arnold's parents were amazing people.
Which made it hurt even more when he lost them.
                                                          ***
Arnold sobbed. His parents had died when the monsters broke loose. Damian's dad was trying to evacuating everyone he could. However, one of the Death Hounds, a very large one, had attacked them. Arnold's dad tried to hold it off, even making a long, cross-shaped scar between it's eyes, in the centre of it's forehead, with his knife. But he had been bitten while the mother's were trying to get Arnie and Damian away. As he was bleeding, he had looked back, and given them one last smile, before he passed. The Death Hound had leaped at them, and Shaylee and Bea had just barely been able to push the kids away before they got hit, and were torn apart. He only had his mother's locket left. It had a sapphire embedded in it, and a picture of the Carpenters in it. They had been the only ones to call him ''Arnie'', so every time someone tried to call him that, painful memories of them would come flooding back. Damian still called him that, though. He was the only one Arnold was okay with calling him ''Arnie.'
But Damian wasn't dead. He knew it, but he had to find him..somehow...
                                                      ***
Brianna, feeling numb, stumbled over to where Roger was, who looked positively shell-shocked. her face was still wet with tears, and so was his. They both needed to talk to someone.
Roger heard Brianna fall down next to him, he felt her poke his arm, but he didn't care. Diana was gone.
''Roger, I know what you're going through, believe me, I do, she-'' he heard her choking up '' she was my best friend. I think we both need to let our feelings out now, or we will never get over this.''
Roger turned his head to where Brianna was. Besides the similar names, they didn't look much alike. Brianna's hair was scarlet red, cheeks slightly chubby, and big, green eyes. Diana's hair was brown like chocolate, and had eyes that shone as blue as the sky. Opposites attract, he guessed.
''What should we talk about? How about how you met Diana. I'd like to hear that.''
Brianna took a deep, shaky breath.'' I first met her back in the 4th grade...''

I was always an outcast. I was mocked and ridiculed by the other kids, because I looked like a nerd. They wouldn't let me sit next to them at lunch, or play with them. I used to cry in the corner, hoping that I would, one day, have a friend. My wish was answered.
It was a Friday, it was my birthday. I had just turned 10. Everyone was teasing me again, but Diana came and stopped them. She was heroic back then too. She then turned to me, and said that it was her birthday too, put on a pair of glasses, took my hand, smiled, and said: ''Now we're both outcasts. And friends.''

 Brianna was choking up, with fresh tears pouring.'' She... she was my first and best friend. She made me..made me into the person I am today.''
Roger was deeply moved, and even more tears flowed. Brianna then said: ''Your turn.''

"It's actually rather short, not really as good as your one." Roger shuddered as he took a deep breath, and started: ''My parents, they had just died in front of me. Struck down by a giant Death Hound, with a cross shaped scar on it's forehead. I later learned that this hound was the same one that killed Arnold's parents, and Damian's mom. We hate that thing so much, we've been trying to track it down, we went on a killing spree of those things to find it, hunted for a month for it.  But we couldn't find it. I lay against that wall, broken down, crying my heart out, when someone passed me a bottle of water, gave me a hug, and told me that everything is gonna be all right. It was her. Hair like chocolate, flowing down her back like a waterfall, blue eyes like the sea, full of kindness. We became friends, started hanging out, and after a while, while we had just returned from a search mission, she was sad because we weren't able to find the people that we were looking for, so I kissed her. She was surprised, but kissed me back. I held her hand, and told her that everything was gonna be all right. It was going to be our first year anniversary today.''

Brianna rested her head on Roger's shoulder.'' I'm gonna miss her, so much.'' But Roger suddenly said:'' No, you're not.'' And got up, looking really excited.''Look, look, look!! The bands we gave each other, for our first month anniversary. Damian put a tracker on both of them as well as a heart rate measurer, so that we would know what the other was feeling, or how they were. DIANA'S HEART IS STILL BEATING!!!'' Everyone heard, and suddenly rushed to their feet. Arnold tossed Roger a sword, Brianna a crook, and took a hammer himself.'' LET'S GET YOUR GIRL BACK!!'' Everyone dashed, Roger leading the way. They ran around the building, as Roger's band started beeping in one direction, signalling that Diana was close, they all ran in that direction. In their path, they came across three Gas Masks. Not stopping, Arnold swung his hammer in the Gas Mask's mask, crushing it and caving in it's head, falling dead to the ground immediately., while Brianna hooked the crook around the leg of the second one while running, tripping it up, and while it was falling she stabbed it in the throat. Roger jumped forward onto the last one's torso, running it through, then using it as a springboard and bounded forward. Nobody was wasting time, nobody was holding back. The beeping was at it's highest and fastest when they were approaching a caved in wall, meaning Diana was behind it. Without any second thoughts, Roger jumped right into it and crashed through, landing on the other side, with a giant hole in the wall behind him. He saw Diana, lying in a pool of her blood, and a dead Gas Mask lying against the wall with a knife in it's eye socket. Roger rushed forward to Diana's side, and saw that there was a gash in her back. She opened her eyes, and weakly whispered:'' You....came for..me."
Roger smiled:"Always." He kissed the top of her head, and picked her up in his arms.''Now let's get you fixed up.''
                                                                    ***
As Damian left, Simon turned to the Sewer Master.'' Do you really think it was wise, telling him the location of the portal?''
They were in a large space in the sewers, free of the dirty water and stench. They had converted it into their own little hideout, complete with beds, chairs, wardrobe, and a TV. Simon was however, reading Game of Thrones on the sofa.
We can't go through it, can we?'' Sewer Master replied.'' Rat Man stopped us from going when he escaped through it, stealing the key that we had and hacking the machine, stopping me from getting through. He apparently hid it somewhere around the island, but I haven't found it. Better him than us to leave.'' He leaned forward, looking at the book's pages.'' I feel bad for Eddard Stark, he doesn't know how close his death is. He knows how much danger he is in, yet is honourable to the bitter end. I feel that I share a kinship to him, as I don't think that I will give up hope on these kids yet. Who do you think you resemble, Simon?''
''Tyrion Lannister, the Imp'' was the reply. Sewer Master chuckled. ''I have never known you to be as sneaky or to perform acts as manipulative as Tyrion, Simon. I do, however, think that some of your murders were ingenious. I pray that giving you the benefit of the doubt and a chance of redemption won't bite me in the end.'' He walked away, into the inner sewers. ''Oh, I can be ''plenty'' sneaky when I want to be." Simon called after him. He smirked, and said to himself quietly:'' Costume time. Have to get to the portal while the time is right.'' He went to the wardrobe, and took out a blue suit that he changed into, putting on a black wig and a fake moustache. He then grinned, as he held the golden key, an emerald set in it, that he had taken off of his last victim, Nigel Parker.'' Peter Slaw has somewhere to be.''
                                                           ***
Damian was still staggering weakly, as he said into his radio, "Arnie, this is Damian. Please, bring everyone to the north of the island. I found a way out.'' He had been bandaged up by Sewer Master who told him that there was a way for them to get out, but he was still hurt and dizzy. He had been told about the keys, the keys that could open a portal at the north of the island to get them out. He had immediately felt a weight against his neck, but didn't say anything about it. Once had had gotten out, he had pulled out his chain. He had been given it by his father for his fourteenth birthday. On the chain was a golden key, with a ruby set in it. His father had kept one like it, but his one had an emerald. He had not known what they were for, neither of them. but he knew now. They were the keys to the portal.
After walking out of the sewer, he had arrived onto a barren area, full of hills and cliffs, overlooking the sea. But from the cliff's vantage point, he could only see the fortified walls, high as the sky, and the rocky drop below the cliffs themselves. He however, still tried to look beyond the cliffs, but he slipped and fell.
He was rushing towards the ground, but the sound of the wind whistling in his ear had barely started when it stopped, 10 feet from the cliff-side's top. He looked at himself, and he was glowing in a blue aura, floating in the air. He looked up, to the left, and saw a kid of around fourteen,sitting on one of the hills, hand outstretched, and the hand was glowing blue.'' I'm sorry man, but you can't bungy jump without a cord, safety violation.'' The boy had hair as white as snow,and startling violet eyes, and he was grinning like a maniac. He brought his hand up, and amazingly, Damian floated up past the cliff-side and was put down a couple of meters away, moving with the boys hand. Damian stared wide-eyed at the buy, awestruck. " Th-thank you. How did you DO that? Who are you?''
The boy chuckled:'' Well, I'm not a Targaryen, I can assure you of that. The name's Malcolm Grimshaw Braddock , I heard you say that your name is Damian, (nice to meet you, Damian!)and as to how I can do this," suddenly, pebbles starting spinning in a wheel around his hand, all glowing blue, ''genetic experimentation. I can move things ''with my mind"he said spookily, as he wiggled his fingers, the pebbles still spinning.''Also, duck!'' He sent all of the pebbles flying like missiles right above Damian's head, which had ducked just in time to avoid getting hit, as a Wildebeest Monster fell off the side of the cliff, eight pebbles having stabbed the area around his heart.
Malcolm said:''Sorry about that, the Wildebeest was about to trample you. Um,'' he suddenly looked very shy, fiddling with his fingers, head lowered, and the pebbles around started to tremble with a nervous energy,'' Can I come with you, to the exit spot? I, I have to get off this island. There's nothing but bad memories for me here.'''
Damian nodded. Malcolm looked shocked, he raised his head and the pebbles stopped moving.''Really?''
Damian grinned:'' You just saved my life twice in a row, I don't see why not.''
                                                                            ***
Diana slowly opened her eyes, and saw that she was in a warm bed, in Justice's base. She felt a tight grip in her hand, and saw Roger, who had been sitting by her sickbed and fell asleep, holding Diana's hand. She smiled, he looked so adorable. She looked under her blankets and saw that she was wearing a hospital gown,(apparently Justice's group had stopped in the local hospital for a while before it got overrun by Gas Masks), her legs bare while her stomach was wrapped with bandages. She lifted her other hand, which was bandaged up around the wrist as well, and tapped Roger's head, and said: ''Good morning sleepy.''
Roger woke up in a start, an alarmed look in his eyes. Diana patted his arm; ''Easy, silly. Just me.''
The look in his eyes instantly changed from worried to relieved and elated, as a beaming smile broke across his face.'' Diana, you're awake. You're okay!'' He wraps Diana in a tight hug, which Diana returns, but she winces a bit as her wounds were still very sore. Roger notices the wince and lets go of her.'' Um, sorry.''
Diana shakes her head, smiling." Don't be. It's a good kind of pain, it tells me that I'm alive. Where are all of the kids?''
Roger laughed.''You've been out for a couple of hours. As for the kids," he gestured around;''Look around the room, and you will find your answer.'' Diana did as Roger said, and gasped. The kids of both of the groups were all fast asleep in various places inside the room, some in the chairs, some on the floor, and some were asleep with their backs to the wall.'' They all wanted to see you, their ''big sis''; and Brianna; "Roger pointed towards the ground ''had the same idea.'' Brianna had snuggled up on the ground, fast asleep, one hand firmly holding on to the bedpost.,Diana laughed, proud and happy. Roger grinned, and started rummaging in his bag for something.'' But I needed to see you before they did, but I didn't wanna wake you, so i just slept here until you woke up, but anyway, I have something for you.'' Roger pulled out a gift-wrapped box from his bag, it fit in his palm and had a nice, neat little bow attached to it.
Diana raised her eyebrows. ''Is this what I think it is, because we are still under-age, Rogy.''
Roger chuckled.''No, no, it's not a ring. Happy anniversary, Diana.'' He handed her the box, a little shyly.
''Aww, you remembered! Thank you!'' She planted a small kiss on Roger's nose, and then proceeded to open the box, and then gasped when she saw what was inside. It was a locket, hand crafted from the look of it, made of silver and gold, and enamelled with rubies in hearts and stars. It was as big and round as her thumb, and remarkably well detailed, with a crystal embedded in the centre, so that when she held it up to the light the whole thing glowed.'' It's beautiful, Roger,'' Diana murmured. Roger smiled, and said: ''I saved the best bit for last. Open it.'' Diana did as Roger said, and saw that on the inside, it was like a photo album, with ten slots for pictures in it. A few had already been filled in, with pictures of Diana as a child, Diana with her parents, Diana with Brianna, and a recent one, a picture of Diana and Roger, and their first kiss. Tears were falling from her eyes, ''Thank you so much for building this, Rogy.'' Looking quite modest, Roger said: ''Aww, no worries. Damian did help me on a bit of it...' he trailed off, looking quite sad at the loss of his friend.
Diana quickly tried to change the subject,'' Well, time for your present, Rogy!'' She reached into her knapsack, (that had been hanging from her bedpost the whole time), and pulled something out, which she held tightly in her hand. ''I'm sorry I didn't make this, I went on a hunt across the island for it and found it a week ago, and fixed it up. Here,'' she held out her still-enclosed hand with the gift in it, ''Happy Anniversary''.
She opened up her hand. In it lay a pocket watch, with the letters R.R etched on it. Roger moved his hand towards it shakily, not daring to believe it. He picked it up, and opened it. It opened up in three sections, the clock and two covers. On the left cover, there was a picture of a family; a beaming dad, a smiling mum, and a little boy, looking so innocent and happy.'' My dad's pocket watch. Him and mum used to share it.'' Tears were streaming down Roger's eyes.'' R.R, Roy Ridgeway, but after his marriage it stood for Rory and Ruby, my dad and my mom. Heh,'' his lips curved upwards into a half-smile,'' Rory, Ruby, and Roger. Thank you, Diana, thank you so much.And you know what?'' He rummaged in his pocket and fished out a photo.'' I've got something to add to it.''It was a group photo taken at the kids' last camping trip by the lake, which was quite secluded and so no Gas Masks had ever shown up there, but it wasn't safe to risk it. The photo had Arnold  with his arms around his little brother Jamie, Damian making rabbit ears on both of them, Philip in the corner, smiling, Sam with a stack of firewood on his shoulder, Justice in the back, beaming broadly, Brianna next to Diana, who was in the centre with Roger, and they both had an arm around the other, and they were all smiling at the camera, the silhouette of a camp-fire burning merrily away in the background. he fitted it into the last remaining cover flap, and showed it Diana, his eyes twinkling at her giggle.''Happy Anniversary, Diana Beauregard.'' ''Happy Anniversary, Roger Ridgeway.'' They moved closer together, and kissed. When they stopped, with their foreheads touching, Roger whispered:'' I love you, Diana. Please never forget that.''''Diana smiled; ''I love you too, Roger.'' They kissed again, but this kiss was filled with emotions. Filled with passion, relief, and happiness. This kiss was shorter, however, as they heard a multitude of voices groaning;''Eeeew!!'' They broke away and saw that all of the kids were now awake, and looked pretty grossed out. Brianna was up as well, leaning on her elbow, and said with a grin on her face:''Why don't you two just get a room?'' Rger's response was:'' We did get a room, but all of you moved into it!'' Everyone started cracking up at that, and they were still laughing when Arnold walked in breathlessly:, radio in his hand.'' Guys, Damian is alive! He's telling us to head the the north of the island as fast as we can, he's found a way out!Oh, and hey, Diana, good to see that you're up,'' he added, as he saw everybody staring at him, mouths gaping.''Well c'mon, guys! According to Damian, the exit's gonna close soon so we have to get there now, no time to change, just grab your stuff and let's go!!;; He dashed out of the room, everybody still gaping.
                                                           ***
The Sewer Master was on his patrol across the island, seeing if there was anybody he could help, anyone that needed saving. He found that much of the area was deserted, except for bare bodies lying everywhere, human as well as Gas Mask. So much bloodshed, some much death. He passed by a man and wife, lying dead, their hands clasped. Together even in death. He saw a little girl, lying close to them, her eyes shut. She could've been sleeping, stuck in a dream from which she would never wake up from. She would never be able to have her tenth birthday, go to her first school dance, to her first date. Her parents will never be able to help her with her homework, see her graduate, see her get her first job, walk her down the aisle at her wedding. ''Nevermore, shall this happen,'' he thought to himself, ''Nevermore, for life is but a fleeting dream, while death is when you wake up.''
He would walk by, arranging bodies so that they look peaceful, even in death. He put a pair of teenage girls who has obviously died together lying side by side with each other, hands clasped, eyes shut, and face free of torment, relaxed and easy. He realized that this was probably a bit creepy, but if he couldn't help them in life, he still had to try to help them in death. Suddenly, he heard something. A wheezing sound, the sound of a dying person struggling to breathe. The sound was quite weak, but it was definitely there. Meaning there was a living person somewhere, and they too would die if he didn't hurry. He ran at full speed to the source of the noise, a few blocks away, his longcoat billowing in the wind behind him .If it had been anyone else, the person would have died before they got there. He ran to the source of the noise, it was inside a large, abandoned building. Jumping over a few dozen bodies, he saw the source of the noise. A young man was lying face-down on the cold stone ground, a meat cleaver in his hands, and a fair few Gas Mask bodies around him. Sewer Master checked his pulse;nothing. He then pressed his fingers to the young man;s temples, and felt a beating sound. The boy's heart had already failed, but his brain was still functioning. Hmmm....
                                                                    ***
The compass had led Damian and Malcolm most of the way there, but currently it was acting rather wonky, moving very erratically.''Any ideas as to why it's doing this?'' Damian looked back at Malcolm, not really expecting an answer.''Simple,'' Malcolm yawned,'' The island has been cut off from the rest of the world, off the grid, and it seems to be in it's own little pocket dimension, which explains why we need a portal to get out. So, as it is the largest body in the surrounding area, not attached to the rest of the Earth, it's developed it's own little gravitational field. Plus, this used to be a mining area, so it has iron and lodestone in abundance So we're experiencing the same sort of trouble that people face when they approach the North Pole.'' Damian gaped at him. Malcolm shrugged.''Just 'cause I'm quirky doesn't make me unintelligent.'' Damian hurriedly closed his mouth.''R-right''. ''Malcolm just keeps surprising me...''he thought. Damian looked forward, and saw the long trek ahead. They would never make it on time. It was as he was telling this to Malcolm that he heard a powerful roar that literally shook his bones came from right behind him. He turned around, and wished he hadn't.
A huge wolf, as long and big as a bear, stood before them, snarling. It had fur like snow, and intelligent grey eyes. And right now, those eyes were thinking of all the possible ways to eat them.
Damian whispered, as quietly as he could: ''Two things. One, the wolf looks like we could ride on it's back like a horse, and two, how is it so big?''
Malcolm frowned. ''It's probably due to genetic testing, just like my powers. Maybe the guys over at the Cube were trying to create an enhanced beast of destruction.. Also, it looks really heavy, so I don't think that I'll be able to hold it back if it attacks.''
''All right then.'' Damian pulls out what looks like a baton, but he switches it on and it starts crackling with electricity.''Then we gotta tame this bad boy. You go left, Ill go right. Ready.....GO!!''
Both of them sidestepped to their respective sides, as the giant wolf leaped forward. As it passed him while he was still mid-jump, Damian twisted around and grabbed hold of it's ear.By the time it had landed, he had already crawled up to it's neck.
Malcolm was hitting hard with all of the small things around him, especially the rocks. He had constructed a glowing blue baseball bat from his powers, and was now using it to smash things at the wolf.''Before you have us as your main course, how about an appetizer? Batter up!!''
But most of the shots only served to annoy the wolf, who was sporting a 'really, man?'' expression on it's face. However, a particularly large rock hit it square between the eyes, and it got really mad, roaring at Malcolm with such power that the trees actually shook, and was about to maul Malcolm to death before Damian, muttering: ''Pressure points...nerves...ah, a nerve cluster. Perfect!'', jabbed the baton right at the base of the wolf's neck, with the taser function on full power, and jumped off just in time.
ZZAP!! The blue electricity danced across the wolf's body and it's pupils dilated as it was paralysed, and shocked. After the taser had run out of power, the wolf stood still for several moments, Malcolm and Damian waiting with bated breath. Finally, it slumped to the ground, knocked out. ''Yes!'' the boys yelled simultaneously, and high-fived. ''So,'' Damian posed the question, ''what do we do with it?'' ''Him.'' Malcolm said thoughtfully. Then he snapped his fingers,(which caused all of the leaves around him to move back.).'' I got it! You said the wolf's big enough for lots of us to ride on it, right? So we use him as transportation to get to the portal, and our own personal ride! Plus,'' he added, looking at the wolf's unconscious form and patting it's head.''He can be our pet. He is pretty adorable.''
Suddenly, the wolf woke up, and reared his head at them, growling. But Malcolm was having none of it, he used his powers and hit the ground with his hands, causing the wolf's head to slam down to the ground, and he kept it there.''Down, Boy! We have beaten you, stop this!''
 ''Woah, there, Malcolm! I think he's still mad,'' Damian reached towards the wolf's neck,''Because this is still stuck in him,'' and pulled the taser baton out.
Malcolm released the wolf. Sure enough, it rose from the ground and looked at them, but didn't attack. Both Malcolm and Damian held out a hand, and the wolf let them pat his head. ''He looks to be an alpha wolf,'' Damian explained,'' and so needs to be beaten in a fight to be made loyal. We fought it and beat it, so now it will listen to us, obedient as a....dog, I guess.'' He hopped up on to the wolf's back and motioned for Malcolm to do the same. After they both had gotten on, Damian reminded Malcolm to use the fur as a handle, and to hold on.''C'mon, boy!''Malcolm says, ''GO!''
The wolf listened, and took a flying leap through the forest they were in and hit the ground running, bounding along like a beast of legend.

                                                      ***
They were panting by the time they got there, Diana noticed. Everyone had their backpacks, and everyone looked exhausted, though they had just run what was akin to a mile to get to the north of the island. The pain from her injuries had flared up again, and she could barely stand up straight. Along with that, it was freezing cold, and she was still wearing the hospital gown, with nothing else but a pair of sandals for comfort, so she was hurting, and cold. Thankfully, Roger offered her his shoulder to lean on, which did help considerably. They had reached a gate, a very large golden gate with a key slot in the centre. They were surrounded by hills, on every side, making their location a mini-valley of sorts.  To their surprise, the gate was glowing, with the keyhole radiating the most intensely.
Justice seems both awed and confused.''I don't get it. We've been on this island for years, how have we not found this place before?'' Kumar replies: ''Perhaps we needed the key to be able to see it? Wait, everybody, get down!''
Everyone seemed confused as to why, but they hid behind the closest hill surface anyway. After a few moments, they could see why.
A man emerged from the road going into the centre of the mini-valley, wearing a blue suit, slicked back hair, and a small scar on his  cheek.'He had a dozen Gas Masks behind him'That...that's Peter Slaw'' Jamie whispered. Anrold turned his head sharply to look at him.''Really, are you absolutely sure?'' Jamie nodded.''Yes, I'm sure.''
Arnold growled, looking absolutely furious.''The animal that murdered Damian's father,'' he muttered, rising.''Time to return the favour.''
But Brianna stopped him.'' Arnie, no!'' She said.'' We have to see what happens here. I don't think we can get through without that guy's help, even if he knows it or not. Besides,'' she switched to a sad and quiet voice,''killing him won't bring Mr.Parker back.'' Anrold grumbled, and sat back down.
Suddenly, Peter started talking.'' All right, all of you,'' he said to the Gas Masks, ''no one gets past this gate. I do not want my escape from this hell thwarted by anyone, understood?'' The Gas Masks nodded vigorously.''And just for added insurance,'' Peter Slaw added,'' My personal attack dogs are coming with me. I'm leaving one with you as a guard dog, and one with me. All right?'' The Gas Masks nodded again, and Peter Slaw whistled.''Here, boys!''
Under their breath, as silently as they could, they uttered a scream. Two huge Death Hounds were lumbering forward, twice as tall as any of the Gas masks. Roger and Arnold, however, looked as though they had just seen their parents' murderer. They had, in fact. One of the hounds, the bigger, nastier one, with blood red eyes, had a cross-shaped scar in the centre of it's forehead.
Arnold's radio was still on.''Arnie,'' Damian's voice whispered.''What's happening?'' Shaking with rage, Arnold replied: ''Slaw is here. And he owns the beast that killed our parents.'' On the other side of the radio, Damian swore.''I'll be there as quick as possible. I want a shot at this guy.'' Then the radio closed.
Slaw held up a key, the same gold as the gate, a diamond in it's base..''So that key is the reason we can see the gate.'' Diana whispered.
Slaw inserted the key into the lock and turned. A great booming sound was heard. The door opened by itself. Inside was what appeared to be similar to a Stargate. It was a large ring set into a base, in the centre of which was a swirling mass of colour that appeared to be a ''wormhole'', as Damian would call it. He looked back, smiled wickedly, and said:''Well, island, it's been fun.Actually it hasn't it's been horrible. But I'm gonna miss ya. Ah, who am I kidding, I'm psyched to be leaving!! Hasta-la-vista, baby!!!'' Then he and the cross scarred Hound stepped through the portal, to who knows where, but away from here. The gate seemed to disappear, after he left. Everyone knew that they had to get to the gate, and find some way to open it, but they knew that the Hound and Gas Masks would slaughter them before they got there. Then they heard a howl, and someone yell:''Here ya go, Wolfie! PLAY TIME!!''
The hill over the road glows blue, and flattens, connecting with the road to form a slide ramp, with four Gas Masks still on it,as a huge white wolf leaps over it. Damian and a white haired boy were on it. Damian yells: ''Guess what, guys? I got us a pet! And he's AWESOME!!!''
The boy leaps off the wolf, screaming:''Yippee-kay-yay!'' and starts sliding down the ramp with a lot of speed, and when he gets close to the Gas Masks,(who are holding very large spears), he slides under the spears and scythe-kicks both of the first two, causing them to start falling, clothes-lines the other two with a lariat, and somehow, the spears the first two were holding shine with a blue tinge, and then start moving on their own, running right through all four of the Gas Masks(while the four were still falling, no less) while going towards the boy and he catches them mid-flight, landing at the bottom of the ramp in a fighting pose, duel wielding both of the spears with a crazy grin on his face, at the same time the wolf and Damian land in front of the Death Hound, both dogs snarling. The insanely awesome boy says:''Let's get this party started.''
                                                                      ***
Damian and the Malcolm fought the rest of the Gas Masks on their own, with the wolf fighting the hound, and everyone too stunned to be able to do anything. That's okay. For now, they didn't need to.
Malcolm utilized every advantage he got, using the spears for both offence and defence, using the pole of it to block an attack while using all of it as a weapon, combining naginata, the art of the spear, and staff fighting. Of course, that was just a side effect simulation, he was making it all up as he went along. (Perhaps he had already learnt them, and only thought he was making them up?Question for another day.)
He kept using his telekinesis to his advantage, using every small object around him as distractions and missiles, and using it to redirect and potentially lethal hit that the Gas Masks would land on him. By contrast, Damian was using every weapon he had on him right now. Fire gauntlets, hidden blades, and taser batons being what he had, he put them to good use. Bouncing around like a monkey and hitting them with the hidden blade at vital points whenever he could. Of course, them being zombies, and all, this only served to annoy them. So he used his fire gauntlets to give them hot feet and then electrocute them with the baton, or just flat out incinerate them, with the gauntlets at full power to melt the metal. Depended on how he felt to that particular Gas Mask. he felt the incineration to be more sadistic, but the electrocution to be more painful, as they were coated with metal. But, seeing as how the incinerations had used up the gauntlet's power, he was sort of in the middle. Malcolm was done with his group at around the same time, throwing his bloody and broken spear sticks away. They both went towards the wolf to help, but it didn't really look like as though he needed any. The Hound might, though.
The wolf and the Death Hound circled each other at first, each sizing the other up. Then, they stuck with their claws and teeth, slashing, biting, each trying to keep the other down. The wolf was larger, he did not go down. He did not feel the bites, or the claw slashes of the Hound. The Hound, however, felt differently. It was outmatched from the start, but it did not know that until the wolf body slammed it , causing a powerful tremor to go through the ground. The hound back away, a genuinely terrified look on it's face, as the wolf slowly moving in for the kill, before Brianna, surprising everyone by actually snapping out of her stupor and moving by sliding down the hill and towards the wolf,stopped him by standing in his way. "No, wolf! Bad! you do not kill members of your own kind like that!'' The wolf still looked murderous, it tried to move forward but it couldn't, Malcolm's powers holding it back. He did not know who this person was, but she was about to try something totally insane. He respected that, and wanted to make sure she went through with it. "Uh, Brianna?'' Damian whispered, ''Awesome to see you, by they way, but exactly what are you doing?'' "Making sure this guy lives,'' Brianna replies. Then she goes right back to scolding the wolf. ''I mean, consider this; you've obviously gone through genetic experimentation to get like that, right? Now, that must have been really painful, right? Now, imagine if this hound was genetically tested on to become like this too? It's felt the same way you did, felt the same pain that you did, how can you bear to kill it after knowing that?!Just because it's called a Death Hound does not mean that it doesn't have feelings!!!'' The wolf actually looked rather sheepish, with a lowered head and puppy dog eyes, like a child who has just been scolded. ''Hmph!'' Brianna says, as she folds her arms.'' Now, go apologize!'' Walking like a little hurt dog, the wolf moved towards the Hound(after he had been released from Malcolm's telekinetic hold, of course. He pulled the hound up by the scruff of it's neck, and then licked over it's wounds. The hound did the same for the wolf, and then it and the wolf started licking Brianna, who very soon got utterly soaked with slobber before the Hound left, going into the forest. Brianna, shivering, said: 'Brrrr, so cold, so wet, I need to change at the next stop.'' Diana, not caring about her injuries, leaped ahead down the hill, hospital gown flapping around her legs, and hugged Brianna tightly, not caring about the slobber that got on her.''Thank goodness you're all right, Bree! I knew you could do it, that was amazing!'' Damian came forward and gave Brianna a hug too, saying that she did great, and Roger came down to do the same.Pretty soon, everyone had come down to congratulate her.Malcolm shyly approached her, and stuck out  a hand. ''Um, hello. My name is Malcolm Grimshaw Braddock, nice to meet you. You were awesome back there.'' Brianna laughed, and shook his hand. ''Nice to meet you, Malcolm. I'm Brianna Jane Boncear, and you were pretty cool during the fight as well.I would give you a hug too, if I wasn't covered in ...dog spit?.'' It was mid sentence that she noticed that she was actually dry, despite only a few minutes having gone by. She looked at everyone that had hugged her, who were all dry as well. She said" ''How is this possible?'' when Malcolm pointed upwards, where she looked and saw that all of the slobber droplets had floated up and formed a gaint bubble, which moved on it's own into the forest, where it's cohesion stopped and all of the liquid spilled on to the ground. ''I pulled all of the slobber droplets off of you gus and made them float up and join together.You're welcome,'' Malcolm says, grinning. Brianna makes good on her offer and hugs Malcolm, who actually seemed to blush. ''How did you do that?'' she asked. Malcolm waved the question away.''Tell you later. All I can tell you is that I've been holding back quite a lot. Flattening the hill was a little challenging, but still easy. That'll probably be a plot point later on.'' Suddenly, Damian took him by the shoulder and said to the group: ''Guys, this is Malcolm. He's a little wierd, but he's a really awesome guy and he's saved my life twice today, so please welcome him into our group!'' which was recieved by much clapping and blushing from Malcolm. ''Oh yeah, ''Damian added, ''As you can see, we tamed a giant wolf. We've got a new pet. We'll name him later.'' The wolf bowed his head to Brianna, who at first hesitantly touched it, then starting patting it. ''The fact that he's letting you do that means that you have earned his respect,'' Damian starts, ''which you totally deserve,'' Justice continues, ''because that took guts.''
All of this aside, they all turned to where the gate was supposed to be.''All right then, time to get going.'' Damian says, taking the key on his chain out. Arnold looked stunned by this. ''You're dad's lucky charm? Really?'' Damian shrugs.''I couldn't really believe it either, when he told me. I believe the term for this is ''Deus ex Machina'', when some new event, character, ability, or object solves a seemingly unsolvable problem in a sudden, unexpected way. Which would make sense if there was someone sitting at a desk, writing or typing all of this up, and us just being characters in a story or....''he shakes his head, confused.''Something.'' Malcolm, looks a bit flustered. ''Um, about that....'' when Brianna turns to look at him quizzically, he quickly changes the subject and says:''Never mind! Damian, open the gate!'' "They must never know,'' he solemnly thinks.
Damian holds his key up, and slowly, like an artist creating a piece, the gate appears, the whole thing glowing a radiant gold. He inserted the key into the hole, and turned. Again, the gate opened, and the portal was before them. The wind was whipping at their hair and clothes, but it felt like a summer breeze, the promise of a new day.
Jackie, Kumar,Justice, and the kids left first. Justice clasps hands with the others, gives hugs, and pats on the heads and backs.''See you on the other side.'' he says, as he salutes. Right before stepping through, Jackie suddenly runs back and kisses Roger full on the lips, Roger too stunned to do anything.'' I may never get the chance to do that again, so thanks.'' She waved at everyone, "Bye! Sorry about that, Diana!" and leaves with her group. Diana turns to Roger, eyebrows raised. Roger hurriedly stammers, trying to explain what happens, not wanting Diana to assume in any way that what just happened was because of him, But Diana l and pats Roger's arm. ''I'm not mad, Roger.'' Roger looks shocked. ''You're not?'' Diana  just laughs and kisses him on the nose. ''No, silly. I think she just thought met you and immediately took a fancy to you, but didn't try anything because I was gone. Now that I'm here, she had the courage to try, knowing that I would figure this out. Can't say I blame her.'' Roger looked relieved, and immediately hugged Diana, who winced a little.'' The ribs, honey, the ribs.'' Apologizing, Roger let go, but still kept an arm around here.
The whole group took a deep breath, (yes, even the wolf), looked back at the island one last time, and stepped through the portal. It's a miracle that the wolf fit.
They passed through, and stepped into a whole new world.
                                                                     ***
Well, there you go. That's my shot at this, let's see how you like it. I've improved the story, brought in two new characters,(I leave the naming rights to you, Charlie), expanded on the old ones, and brought an old one back, and put forward some new ideas. And yes, Malcolm is the only one crazy enough to see through the fourth wall. Blame the experimentations.
Also, a message to Kishalan. I was able to get around your wish of Jackie and Roger, because this happening so soon after Diana's (supposed) death is just not right. I did let her have a consolation kiss, though.
This chapter was, as Kishalan has pointed out, noticably more light-hearted than the last one. This is to balance out all of the death and sadness from the last one, with some funny, some heartwarming, and a fair bit of awesome. This is a time of new beginnings, it needs to be happy.
Now, let the world-jumping begin.All I ask is for you to keep it going until my next turn, because I have an awesome thing in Ancient Rome. And yes, people from the different worlds can join the group if you so wish.
I hand the reins over to you, Charlie. Onward, Allons-y! Forward to the journey, I say, GERONIMO!!

Short story contest with $1000 prize!!!!!!!!!!

Greetings my fellow worshippers of weird! I was looking through the Central Leader and right up the back, I found an article about a short story competition that the newspaper is running. It said to check out the website so here it is:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/8884324/Sunday-Star-Times-Short-Story-Awards

If you can't be bothered to look, the prizes for the secondary school bit are $1000 and a Kobo with books on it. I dunno about the due date or where you send the manuscript to but if you're really keen, it probably says on the website. I just forgot it.
Good luck!!!!

Chainstory Short1 The Surgeon

I am making these shorts as spin offs for the Chainstory while waiting for Hassan's story. These will be shorts that will talk about new or minor characters or the setting. They will probably won't affect the main plot until later on or wont affect it at all. Enjoy.

He trudged along the road wet from yesterday's downpour. He hated the rain. It was no fun. It made it hard for him go scavenging. He needed food. He needed supplies. But most importantly he needed more patients. Patients. Yes they are the ones. The important ones. He grip on the sack tightened at that thought. He could feel it in there. Shuffling. Trying to get out. He stopped and swung it over his head and brought it down on the ground with all of his might. It screamed. "Let me out," it called. He just smashed the sack to the ground again. The shuffling stopped and screams were replaced by muffled moans. He grinned and swung the sack back over his shoulder. The sun was setting over the Eastern Sector. He had to move faster. Or else he will have to worry about the Killer Bats. He increased his pace as he walked towards his hiding place.

Nobody lived in the apartment apart from him. He had the whole place for him. This was good too. He had more space to put his tools, supplies and his experiments. He walked upstairs to his lab and opened the door. There were corpses everywhere. Decapitated ones. Dismantled ones. Miss matched ones. They were his experiments. They were his patients. He remembered how years ago he had wanted to be surgeon. Yet he didn't have the right skills. All he was destined to do was butchery. For years all he did was chop meat and sell it to others. Then one day it came to him. Being a butcher and being a surgeon were kind of the same. All they did was cut people apart. What he did was cut animals apart. This kept him going for a few years. Soon however he wanted more. He wanted to learn to stitch them together. He started testing this on the animals. He never sold his "experimented" meat because he knew he may end up getting sued. Then a few years later he wanted more. He wanted to cut open people and stitch them back together. He started kidnapping kids for this. They were his first patients.

He soon started doing this on older kids and eventually adults. It wasn't long before the police found out about this. He escaped however and went on to find more "patients" and to do more "experiments" and became a first class wanted criminal in USA. The people started calling him the "Surgeon Butcher". When the police finally caught him he tried to explain that he was just being a surgeon like he always wanted to be and was just helping people. But the police accused him of kidnapping and murder of innocent civilians. He tried to tell them they were just a small sacrifice for a better cause. But all he got was a life sentence at Gravel Island Penitentiary. Then six years ago he escaped along with a few other prisoners. It wasn't hard. All he had to do was cut open some guards. He had did this before. Plus they were asking for it. They kept saying he was insane. He wasn't insane. How could he be? He was a surgeon. Surgeons weren't insane. They were geniuses. That's what he was. A genius.

I showed them. I showed them all.

He looked around the room. He had to find something to stitch onto his new patient. He hated keeping his patient waiting. Every surgeons did. There had to be something there from his previous patients. Maybe an arm or a leg. He remembered how he stitched four extra limbs to a previous patient. He had enjoyed it. The patient however was a whole different story. All of his patients hated what he did to them. He had tried to explain to them he was doing this to help them become better than they were but they only screamed and shouted. Nowadays he didn't explain. Besides they all eventually stopped. Permanently. He once stitched one patient's mouth together but the pain had been so much that the patient had literally ripped her mouth open to scream. It was horrible and he never did that again. C'mon, c'mon something to stitch on. Ah Ha. He picked a disembodied head. Two heads, that will be interesting. He heard the patient starting shuffle inside the sack. He grabbed an enormous saw and the head and walked over to the sack...

Owlflight

 Hello peoples!!!!! This is the first chapter of a story I've been working on. It's a bit long, but please read it and tell me what you think. :)                                                  



                                    It was dusk in the forest, one of those autumn evenings when the air is crisp and the leaves are crisper. Theo had just told a crap joke and Emily was laughing anyway when there was a creak and a groan and a crack and a thump and a scream, a horrible drawn-out bloodcurdling scream, and a tree was lying on the forest floor with Liam's leg under it.
   Kayla could hear someone screaming. It took her a moment to realize that it was herself. Emily was screaming too, and how could you not be screaming with Liam like that, his eyes rolled back in his head and his leg crushed and red with a gleaming shard of shinbone poking out? He didn't look as though he was breathing. Maybe he's dead, thought Kayla. Oh god, Liam's dead.
   Both Kayla and Emily had stopped screaming by then, the noise replaced with an awful silence that emphasised the growing darkness. Even the birds had stopped singing, as if the whole forest was holding its breath. Kayla wanted something, anything, to fill the space, to distract her from Liam. He had gone horribly pale.
   Theo broke the quiet, saying "Get the tree off him!", and Kayla silently thanked him as she ran over to help, dumping her pack as she went. All three of them helped, pushing the log. It was heavy. So was Kayla's heart, because she knew, she'd had that funny feeling she got sometimes, the one that told her something was about to happen. . . She put it out of her mind and concentrated on the log, lending all her strength to it. And then it rolled away and the full extent of the damage was visible, and Kayla wished she hadn't pushed.
   She thought she could see Emily turning away and being sick, and Theo just staring, his hand on his mouth. No sound reached her, though, just the thud of her heartbeat, of the blood pulsing through her, blood like the blood on the forest floor that was Liam's. His leg was crushed completely, bent backwards in the middle of his shin at an impossible, sickening angle, the bone splintered and the flesh broken. Kayla's first thought was, There's no way he's keeping that leg. Her second was a bit morbid: That is, if he lives.
   And then she tore her gaze away and the sound came rushing back to her, of Emily retching and whimpering, of Theo quietly saying "Oh, god," to himself, of the forest's awful quietness. This struck Kayla as oddly funny, how the silence could be louder than the loudest scream. She almost laughed.
   An owl hooted somewhere, shattering Kayla's trance and making her jump. "Well," she said, her voice like a shout in the absence of sound, "we should probably set up camp. Or. . . yeah." She swallowed. Theo was muttering, and while Emily had stopped trying to be sick, she was still
shivering and whimpering and rocking back and forth. Kayla rolled her eyes.
   "Guys," she said, starting to get angry, "guys, if you don't snap out of it, Liam is going to DIE! He might already be DEAD because YOU guys are being so PATHETIC!!!" She stopped and glared at Theo and Emily. They looked back at her as if she had several new heads. Kayla never got angry. Theo and Emily were the ones who had blazing arguments about stuff. "And will you stop STARING at me and stop feeling SORRY for yourselves and do something USEFUL!!!" She stormed over and kicked her pack, hard. The anger was subsiding already, leaving her out of breath and unbelieving that she'd just done that. Kayla flopped onto the pack and breathed deeply.
   "Okay. Please, can we do something, because I... I can't stand waiting. I feel..." She sighed. "Powerless. Like, I dunno, God or fate or whatever can do anything they like because we're completely powerless." She stood up. "So let's pitch camp. Or whatever."
   Theo looked at Emily. Emily looked at Theo. "All right," said Emily, her voice small and weak. "Who's got the tents?"

                  And half an hour, three broken pegs and a fair bit of swearing later, there were two small tents standing in a small clearing, not far from where the accident had been. While they worked, the sky had darkened and a round, pale moon risen, its face gazing down at them sadly. To Kayla, it looked as if it had a secret it couldn't tell.
   She glanced over to Liam, who was still lying where he had fallen. The other two were squabbling over what made better kindling, old sticks or newspaper, while attempting to start a fire.
   Kayla went over to her pack and got out the bundle of white nylon cord her mum had insisted she pack. "You never know," Mum had said, looking at Kayla the way she did when it was serious, "you might just need it. It could save your life." Kayla had rolled her eyes and grumbled, but stuffed the cord in a side pocket anyway. Now she was glad she had. It wouldn't save her life, but it might save Liam's. She also retrieved the Swiss army knife her grandad had lent her.
   Next she foraged around in the undergrowth for some sticks. She found what she was looking for after a moment: two long, strong branches, both about the length of her armspan, sturdy and coated in a fuzz of pale green lichen. Kayla whittled the splinters off an end with the Swiss army knife. She glanced up. Emily and Theo had given up the fire and wandered over to watch. Theo looked puzzled, but Emily was grinning, probably remembering the last time they'd done this. "Should I find the other ones?" she asked Kayla, who went back to whittling, smiling and remembering.
   They'd done this at school camp last year, in the Team Building exercise. It had been a nothing-special sort of day, cold and grey and not-quite-about-to-rain, and Kayla, Emily, Annabel and Sritha, the girls of group 4, had not been pleased when Kirsty, the activity manager, had dragged a stuffed wetsuit with a cloth face, faded beanie and mouldy shoes out of the wooden chest. "His name's Fred," she'd explained, dumping some rope and bamboo on the ground. "You have to get him out of the swamp." Kirsty gestured out at the course, which was a heap of platforms and squat, stumpy poles, with a short flying fox at the end. "It's full of man-eating pirahnas. Fred broke his leg and you have to - guys? Are you guys listening?" Kirsty looked behind the girls, where Otto, Chen and Jack were giving Fred granny-glasses and buck teeth with Chen's vivid. Kirsty sighed. "Anyway, you have to build Fred a stretcher to get him across, then actually get across. Okay? Any questions? No? Right, you can start." Kirsty had wandered off, pulling out her phone, leaving the girls staring at the pile of junk in front of them.
   Kayla had finished whittling: the edges weren't perfect, but they would do. Emily came back, her arms full of sturdy sticks about half a metre long, and dumped them beside Kayla. Kayla looked up. "If I do one end, then d'you want to do the other end?" she asked. Emily nodded. "Pass the rope," she said. Kayla cut a length of rope with the pocketknife and tossed it over to Emily, who caught it and began using it to fix one of the short sticks to the long branch. As Kayla did the same with the other long branch, memory swept her back to what had happened next.
   Annabel had picked up one of the short sticks and thrown it at the boys. It hit Otto's hand, making the vivid jump and giving Fred a massive cheek scar. "Oi!" said Otto. "What was that for?"
   Kayla folded her arms and shot him a death stare.
   "Okay, fine," he grumbled, handing the vivid back to Chen and standing up. "So we have to get the doll across the 'swamp'" - he made exaggerated quotation marks with his fingers - "by making a stretcher out of that crap." Otto snorted and rolled his eyes.
   "Yeah!" said Chen, coming to stand next to him. "It's not even clean crap. Look, it's got mould and stuff on it. Yuck!" He mimed sticking fingers down his throat.
   "Mmm-hmm, because crap has totally always been clean," Emily retorted. "You're such a baby!"
   "Gu-uys!" said Kayla, exasperated. "This isn't helping. Has anyone got anything even slightly sensible to say? Don't worry, morons, I'm not expecting those peas you call brains to come up with anything," she added at the boys' worried glances.
   There was silence for a moment. Then Sritha, quiet Sritha who hadn't said anything yet, stepped forward. "Well," she said shyly, "I saw this thing on Bear Grylls the other week... it wasn't for carrying a person, but maybe we could try it?"
   And so it turned out that Sritha was actually the best leader out of all of them. Under her direction, they constructed a passable stretcher, making a rectangular frame and then a base out of the remaining short sticks, and loaded Fred on, strapping him down with extra rope.
   The course itself, though, wasn't quite as easy: they kept slipping and choosing the wrong bridges, finally dropping Fred at the flying fox just before sending him over. But they did come out laughing, and knew each other much better than when they had started.
   Now, in the present, the stretcher was nearly done. Kayla tied the last stick on and sat back. They still had to get Liam on, and that was going to be hard.
   "Four shall come to the Forest."
   Kayla's head whipped round. Liam hadn't sat up, but his eyes had opened, and were staring at the darkened sky. He spoke again; he didn't seem to be quite in control of it.
   "One to speak with those departed,
    one to wield and fight,
    one to spin stories and magic,
    and one to share her spirit with the Forest."
   A rustling noise: an owl alighted on a branch. Kayla smiled, for no particular reason that she could think of. Might be the one that hooted earlier, she thought.
   "They come to save us,
    for the dark is rising in the East,
    and theirs is the power to stop it."
   The owl's head turned to look at Kayla.
   "But the four must remember:
    find the answer in peace,
    watch their backs,
    remember the eye,
    and trust in Night's mistress..."
   Kayla shivered.
   "... for only then..."
   And then she sat bolt upright. The owl wasn't alarmed, though. It just kept watching her with those great, dark eyes.
   Those eyes...
   "... shall he be defeated."
   Those eyes were almost... Kayla shook her head, but she couldn't clear it of the feeling that destiny was haunting the little clearing.
   Because something in that owl's eyes was almost human.