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It's been a while hasn't it...
I won't put the Fog Story in the main topic (I'll post it in the reply) so I'll use this space for a couple of guidelines.
ANYONE can write in this story, but naturally, if something is irrelevant or unreadable or something like that, it might well be ignored.
To participate properly in this story, please:
(1) Try to read what everyone else writes to keep up with the story.
Naturally, people will make the odd mistake and miss something, but try to keep up with what people have written to minimise mistakes.
(2) If you want your posts to be read, keep with good gramma and punctuation (not so much that we're fussy, it's just easier to read and understand. Reading should be enjoyable, not a chore trying to make out what's been written) and try to go for quality over quantity.
(3) Try not to write too much at once. It'll leave everyone else behind! :-)
(4) Stick to the plot. If the main plot doesn't suit you then go along with one of the subplots. Don't start changing the direction of the story at your whim. I remember about a year back some idiot would, in one single post, manage to take the story to heaven and back and twist it so much that it was barely recognisable.
I won't mention any names (mainly because I'd rather remain anonamous! ;-D) but just remember that it's a joint effort story, not simply the down to the imagination of a single derranged individual! :-)
Here's the story.
Enjoy! :-)
I won't put the Fog Story in the main topic (I'll post it in the reply) so I'll use this space for a couple of guidelines.
ANYONE can write in this story, but naturally, if something is irrelevant or unreadable or something like that, it might well be ignored.
To participate properly in this story, please:
(1) Try to read what everyone else writes to keep up with the story.
Naturally, people will make the odd mistake and miss something, but try to keep up with what people have written to minimise mistakes.
(2) If you want your posts to be read, keep with good gramma and punctuation (not so much that we're fussy, it's just easier to read and understand. Reading should be enjoyable, not a chore trying to make out what's been written) and try to go for quality over quantity.
(3) Try not to write too much at once. It'll leave everyone else behind! :-)
(4) Stick to the plot. If the main plot doesn't suit you then go along with one of the subplots. Don't start changing the direction of the story at your whim. I remember about a year back some idiot would, in one single post, manage to take the story to heaven and back and twist it so much that it was barely recognisable.
I won't mention any names (mainly because I'd rather remain anonamous! ;-D) but just remember that it's a joint effort story, not simply the down to the imagination of a single derranged individual! :-)
Here's the story.
Enjoy! :-)
Page:
“So Strafex and Stryke have been kidnapped?” Asked Meka, stretching his legs asw he did so. His suit felt uncomfortable. It had been a while since he had worn it, and though it still fitted just fine it felt somehow odd. A little action would sort it out, no doubt, he thought.
“Well I can’t be doing with all this sitting around doing nothing” Said Ant. “I’m going to rescue Strafex. And Stryke. And anyone else who has been kidnapped. Grix, Meka, you come with me. The rest of you, wait for someone else to write about what goes on at the rest of this meeting.”
“Um, Ant.” Said Grix. “I think you’ll be finding that I tell you what to do, whilst you make amusing references to sugar. Now let’s go rescue Strafex and or Stryke.”
“Right-o” replied Ant “Just better make sure I’ve got enough sugar.”
Everyone in the room laughed, much like the way they laughed at Snarff in Thundercats, before it fades to the next scene. Well it’s better than the moralising that He-Man used to end with. It’s alright for you, Mr Man-at-Arms, isn’t it, telling us not to fire dangerous weapons at small animals, but look at you, with your built in gun-hand things. Bet you’ve shot up a small rabbit, just for a laugh. Damn hypocrite.
___________________________
So yeah, we fade to the next scene, with Ant and Grix standing next to the Grixmobile. Or the Fiat Punto, as everyone other than Grix called it. “So where’s Meka?” asked Grix, which obviously was some kind of cue, or queue, or another type of word that’s said that way, but possibly spelt differently, as Meka came sliding down the drainpipe.
“Here I am folks” said Meka, dusting down his trousers, and breathing a little heavily.
“Have you put on weight?” asked Grix.
“Must have been eating too much sugar” Said Ant.
“No, I’m fine. I just haven’t worn my adventure pants in a while, they’re just stiff.”
“Yeah, stiff and chips Meka, that’s the problem” chuckled Grix.
Again, there was a Thundercats-esque ending laugh, with much more laughter than the three of them really could have provided, but that’s irrelevant, the next scene awaits.
__________________________________
“So how will we find them?” asked Meka.
“Hmmm, too many questions in this episode Meka” Replied Grix, the dialogue isn’t really flowing too well, is it? Well actions speak louder than words.”
“Mines do actions, and they make no sound at all” said Ant, munching on some sugar.
Grix ignored the comment. Meka shifted uneasily in his seat. Because of his stiff trousers. Nothing to do with putting on weight. Really.
Sniper appeared on the road. Grix ran him down.
Then it happened again, with the same result.
After running Sniper down 8 times, Grix hit the breaks. “That should do it” He said. Which was no doubt prompt for more action, as those well-dressed cult figures appeared from the shadows, no doubt alerted by Grix’s violent video game inspired driving.
“All we do now is follow them back to base, and we’ll find the captives.” Said Grix, rather smugly.
“But won’t they just kill us?” Replied Meka, looking somewhat worried.
“Damn” said Grix, which not only caused Thundercats style laughter, belly laughs and all, but also caused the credits to roll, so wait for the next episode to see if ur heroes can escape, save the captives, and do whatever the hell else any other writer decides to write about.
“Well I can’t be doing with all this sitting around doing nothing” Said Ant. “I’m going to rescue Strafex. And Stryke. And anyone else who has been kidnapped. Grix, Meka, you come with me. The rest of you, wait for someone else to write about what goes on at the rest of this meeting.”
“Um, Ant.” Said Grix. “I think you’ll be finding that I tell you what to do, whilst you make amusing references to sugar. Now let’s go rescue Strafex and or Stryke.”
“Right-o” replied Ant “Just better make sure I’ve got enough sugar.”
Everyone in the room laughed, much like the way they laughed at Snarff in Thundercats, before it fades to the next scene. Well it’s better than the moralising that He-Man used to end with. It’s alright for you, Mr Man-at-Arms, isn’t it, telling us not to fire dangerous weapons at small animals, but look at you, with your built in gun-hand things. Bet you’ve shot up a small rabbit, just for a laugh. Damn hypocrite.
___________________________
So yeah, we fade to the next scene, with Ant and Grix standing next to the Grixmobile. Or the Fiat Punto, as everyone other than Grix called it. “So where’s Meka?” asked Grix, which obviously was some kind of cue, or queue, or another type of word that’s said that way, but possibly spelt differently, as Meka came sliding down the drainpipe.
“Here I am folks” said Meka, dusting down his trousers, and breathing a little heavily.
“Have you put on weight?” asked Grix.
“Must have been eating too much sugar” Said Ant.
“No, I’m fine. I just haven’t worn my adventure pants in a while, they’re just stiff.”
“Yeah, stiff and chips Meka, that’s the problem” chuckled Grix.
Again, there was a Thundercats-esque ending laugh, with much more laughter than the three of them really could have provided, but that’s irrelevant, the next scene awaits.
__________________________________
“So how will we find them?” asked Meka.
“Hmmm, too many questions in this episode Meka” Replied Grix, the dialogue isn’t really flowing too well, is it? Well actions speak louder than words.”
“Mines do actions, and they make no sound at all” said Ant, munching on some sugar.
Grix ignored the comment. Meka shifted uneasily in his seat. Because of his stiff trousers. Nothing to do with putting on weight. Really.
Sniper appeared on the road. Grix ran him down.
Then it happened again, with the same result.
After running Sniper down 8 times, Grix hit the breaks. “That should do it” He said. Which was no doubt prompt for more action, as those well-dressed cult figures appeared from the shadows, no doubt alerted by Grix’s violent video game inspired driving.
“All we do now is follow them back to base, and we’ll find the captives.” Said Grix, rather smugly.
“But won’t they just kill us?” Replied Meka, looking somewhat worried.
“Damn” said Grix, which not only caused Thundercats style laughter, belly laughs and all, but also caused the credits to roll, so wait for the next episode to see if ur heroes can escape, save the captives, and do whatever the hell else any other writer decides to write about.
Suddenly, there was a sound of glass being smashed, and everyone looked round to see Shocktrooper spralled on the floor, glass shards scattered over him, an Ar34 in his right hand. He stood up, shook his head, looked around, and shouted "Stryke's been kidnapped!".
"We know!" Ant shouted back, "We just got the note!". Ant then looked at Shocktrooper suspiciously, "How did you know Stryke's been kidnapped?" he asked, one eybrow raised, immitating The Rock.
"I noticed he hadn't posted for 2 whole weeks! And when I absailed through his loft window, I discovered that he wasn't there! His...his Gamecube was smashed to p-pieces!" said Shocky (easier to type, and is my nickname), and he started to run his fingers through his hair, making it stand up slightly...he looked insane.
"How could they do that? Eh?!" Roared Grix, "We must put a stop to this!". At this, everyone started mumbline excitedly, wondering what Grix would suggest to do first. He sat there. He sat there for 15 more minutes. "What?!" he asked, annoyed. Everyone went back to chatting nervously.
"We know!" Ant shouted back, "We just got the note!". Ant then looked at Shocktrooper suspiciously, "How did you know Stryke's been kidnapped?" he asked, one eybrow raised, immitating The Rock.
"I noticed he hadn't posted for 2 whole weeks! And when I absailed through his loft window, I discovered that he wasn't there! His...his Gamecube was smashed to p-pieces!" said Shocky (easier to type, and is my nickname), and he started to run his fingers through his hair, making it stand up slightly...he looked insane.
"How could they do that? Eh?!" Roared Grix, "We must put a stop to this!". At this, everyone started mumbline excitedly, wondering what Grix would suggest to do first. He sat there. He sat there for 15 more minutes. "What?!" he asked, annoyed. Everyone went back to chatting nervously.
Ant? FM? Meka? Venom? Your Honour?
Where are you all?
(pop)
Where are you all?
(pop)
"No, FM, I'm here." Grix said, sitting at the back.
"Oh. Sorry."
Then, suddenly, Pb ran into the room... "Grix and Meka have been kidnapped!"
"No, it's ok Pb, I'm here." Grix said.
"Oh. Right." Pb replied.
"So where's Meka?" Ant said.
"Do you think Grix is tired?" Meka said, emerging from the toliet...
"I'm not sure. He sure doesn't look that awake..." FM said, waving his hand in front of him. "He'd be trying a lot harder if he wasn't tired."
Then, suddenly, Ali ran into the room. "I've been kidnapped!"
"No you haven't Ali. You're standing there."
Ali put his arms down, frowned, and sat down.
Grix and FM dived to the floor as a brick SUDDENLY came smashing in through a window. There was a note attached to it.
FM got up, cleaned away the glass from his back, and read the note.
"We've captured Strafex." FM read aloud. "Is Strafex here?"
The room was silent.
"Fine. Right. It's Strafex. Must be." Ant said. "Can we get on with the plot now?"
"Sorry guys. I'm in a funny mood." Grix said.
"Oh. Sorry."
Then, suddenly, Pb ran into the room... "Grix and Meka have been kidnapped!"
"No, it's ok Pb, I'm here." Grix said.
"Oh. Right." Pb replied.
"So where's Meka?" Ant said.
"Do you think Grix is tired?" Meka said, emerging from the toliet...
"I'm not sure. He sure doesn't look that awake..." FM said, waving his hand in front of him. "He'd be trying a lot harder if he wasn't tired."
Then, suddenly, Ali ran into the room. "I've been kidnapped!"
"No you haven't Ali. You're standing there."
Ali put his arms down, frowned, and sat down.
Grix and FM dived to the floor as a brick SUDDENLY came smashing in through a window. There was a note attached to it.
FM got up, cleaned away the glass from his back, and read the note.
"We've captured Strafex." FM read aloud. "Is Strafex here?"
The room was silent.
"Fine. Right. It's Strafex. Must be." Ant said. "Can we get on with the plot now?"
"Sorry guys. I'm in a funny mood." Grix said.
The Special Reserve HQ car park was unusually full.
Ant looked inside the entrance. The place was already crammed and some sodding newbie had taken his “Reserved For Notable” parking space. He made a mental note to get the cretin banned, reversed, drove half a mile looking for an empty space and eventually found one. Ant hadn’t been expecting the place to be this full. The last time an emergency meeting had been called, there hadn’t been so many members and even then, Tony hadn’t been THIS desperate to get everyone together before.
Ant parked and started walking towards the HQ building.
It would take a while to get there but as late as he was, they wouldn’t start without him.
He was wrong. Something was clearly VERY wrong if they were rushing to get things started. Half the notables were not yet present and many of the more important regulars hadn’t turned up either but things were still underway.
Ant ran in, apologised for his lateness and sat down next to Sniper (not a typo or mistake – Sniper is there - regular writers will know the score. First time writers, you’ll quickly get the idea!) and got a quick briefing on the situation.
"So no one knows where this cult came from?"
"No. It seems that they’ve built up secretly."
"Why now? Controversy over gaming used to be much bigger than it is now."
"Yeah, but these movements and cults never used to get anywhere."
"Why not?"
"You really should’ve been here..."
At which point Ant shot Sniper such a glare...
"Ok! I’ll tell you! It turns out that whenever someone seemed to be able to threaten the games industry they were always bribed or bullied by the corporations. These guys did pop out once before but they were easily taken care of by a hired group of mercenaries and the entire incident was covered up."
"So who was responsible for dealing with these cults in the past and where is he now?"
Sniper paused for a second.
"Well lets just say that these activists weren’t the only people he was troubling... We sort of took care of him for them. He’s in that Mega Drive cartridge as we speak..."
Ant froze! Ofcourse! Bill Gates and his MS empire had done everything to keep their business and sorting out crazed anti-gaming groups was just one of the many things that they’d done that had gone unnoticed. Although Corporations like Microsoft had brought an ugly side to the games industry, especially when they corrupted the N-chip, they had also provided a certain security, a protection from the rest of the world.
And now they had gone, things had been left open for cults and anti-gaming groups to build up strengths. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to bring these corporations back.
"So why don’t we just bring him back from the cartridge then?"
"That’s where we’d gotten too before you came in. It turns out that the cartridge has recently gone missing. We we’re currently deciding what to do about it..."
The meeting went on. It turned out that DMA wasn’t the only place that had been attacked. Makers of other violent immoral games like Carmageddon and State of Emergency had also been attacked by the same cult in a similar fashion. No one knew where this cult had come from, but knew that only one man could stop him.
This man’s mind was trapped in a Mega Drive cartridge and nobody knew where that was either. Nobody knew what to do. The meeting was interrupted by a late Fantasy Meister who suddenly came bursting in!
"They’ve captured Grix!"
Ant looked inside the entrance. The place was already crammed and some sodding newbie had taken his “Reserved For Notable” parking space. He made a mental note to get the cretin banned, reversed, drove half a mile looking for an empty space and eventually found one. Ant hadn’t been expecting the place to be this full. The last time an emergency meeting had been called, there hadn’t been so many members and even then, Tony hadn’t been THIS desperate to get everyone together before.
Ant parked and started walking towards the HQ building.
It would take a while to get there but as late as he was, they wouldn’t start without him.
He was wrong. Something was clearly VERY wrong if they were rushing to get things started. Half the notables were not yet present and many of the more important regulars hadn’t turned up either but things were still underway.
Ant ran in, apologised for his lateness and sat down next to Sniper (not a typo or mistake – Sniper is there - regular writers will know the score. First time writers, you’ll quickly get the idea!) and got a quick briefing on the situation.
"So no one knows where this cult came from?"
"No. It seems that they’ve built up secretly."
"Why now? Controversy over gaming used to be much bigger than it is now."
"Yeah, but these movements and cults never used to get anywhere."
"Why not?"
"You really should’ve been here..."
At which point Ant shot Sniper such a glare...
"Ok! I’ll tell you! It turns out that whenever someone seemed to be able to threaten the games industry they were always bribed or bullied by the corporations. These guys did pop out once before but they were easily taken care of by a hired group of mercenaries and the entire incident was covered up."
"So who was responsible for dealing with these cults in the past and where is he now?"
Sniper paused for a second.
"Well lets just say that these activists weren’t the only people he was troubling... We sort of took care of him for them. He’s in that Mega Drive cartridge as we speak..."
Ant froze! Ofcourse! Bill Gates and his MS empire had done everything to keep their business and sorting out crazed anti-gaming groups was just one of the many things that they’d done that had gone unnoticed. Although Corporations like Microsoft had brought an ugly side to the games industry, especially when they corrupted the N-chip, they had also provided a certain security, a protection from the rest of the world.
And now they had gone, things had been left open for cults and anti-gaming groups to build up strengths. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to bring these corporations back.
"So why don’t we just bring him back from the cartridge then?"
"That’s where we’d gotten too before you came in. It turns out that the cartridge has recently gone missing. We we’re currently deciding what to do about it..."
The meeting went on. It turned out that DMA wasn’t the only place that had been attacked. Makers of other violent immoral games like Carmageddon and State of Emergency had also been attacked by the same cult in a similar fashion. No one knew where this cult had come from, but knew that only one man could stop him.
This man’s mind was trapped in a Mega Drive cartridge and nobody knew where that was either. Nobody knew what to do. The meeting was interrupted by a late Fantasy Meister who suddenly came bursting in!
"They’ve captured Grix!"
I can’t quite remember what happened to the last Fog Story.
It started as a mission of 5 Special Reserve agents going into Sniper’s mind in order to retrieve Grix from the Mega Drive cartridge, the little plastic case where both he and Bill Gates had been imprisoned.
Naturally, in the end, everyone ended up inside the brain, and because it was linked up to Grix’s mind inside the Street Fighter 2 cart, he managed to turn the world in Sniper’s head into the land of Arcadia, where everyone else got pretty much lost and the story went to some sort of standstill. :-)
Although it never got written, in the end, the mission was successful and Grix was rescued, leaving just Bill Gates inside the cartridge which was locked away for safe keeping.
Since the day when "The Overlord" of the games industry got trapped inside that Street Fighter cartridge, the games industry began to rebuild itself.
Nintendo was cleared of the N-chip scandal and was back into business.
Although they steered clear of devices that connected directly to the brain, they still made a fortune in good old fashioned consoles and console games.
With healthy competition from Sega and Sony, the Games industry flourished and prospered. So much so, game developers became celebrities and heroes.
Game development became much more open and many companies started giving free tours and open days on regular occasions.
That’s why Bonus wasn’t surprised when he got a letter from his favourite local company – DMA design – inviting him on a tour of the studio.
The tour was running smoothly. Although most of the "tourists" were casual gamers who were lost on what they were being shown, Bonus had gained a huge amount out of it, from game design and artwork through to programming and testing.
However, things were not all well. Just as the tour guide (also happened to be a game designer) starting showing a demo of the new Grand Theft Auto game, dark figures came crashing through the windows, the leader of which stabbed the tour leader with a knife and shouted.
"Violent games are evil! They are ruining our world. We must stop this madness!"
The attackers were people dressed in dark robes, armed to the teeth with various sharp weapons. They must’ve been an underground cult that had finally surfaced.
While the cultists terrorised the rest of the tourists, Bonus ran over to the fallen game designer. The dying man looked at him and uttered some last words.
"You have played our games a learnt well. Use your skills to escape and... avenge... us......"
With that he closed his eyes. Bonus turned around to see the leader of this gang standing and staring at him. The man was dressed in black robes but had golden stripes in various places, presumably signifying his status as a captain of some sort.
The face was masked.
Bonus stared right back.
"Who are you?"
The masked figure replied in a deep mystical voice.
"Who we are is not important. It is why we are here that is matters. Computer games are ruining our world. Young people are wasting their life being indoctrinated by little screens and imaginary world. It is turning our children into brainless psychopathic killers!"
Bonus would normally have laughed at this kind of irony, but people armed with metre long katanas should not to be laughed at, if you want to live that is...
"You can join us. It is not too late to forget your path and start your life fresh and new."
Bonus looked around. He was surrounded by these madmen and given a choice to either join them or die. Well he wasn't going to join them, but maybe he didn’t have to die.
He looked down at the dead game designer and remembered his last words.
"Remember what you’ve learnt from our games..."
He could escape. All he needed was a little distraction…
"LOOK! Out the window! Erm......... Someone’s selling pirated copies of that violent Quake 3 game to 5 year old children!!!"
The entire gang darted to the window and looked out.
Bonus had gotten the distraction he needed. Thinking back to old DMA games, he remembered the skills he had learned. He had to get out of this room. The door was locked. No reason why that should stop him. Just like the lemmings he had guided long ago, he clenched his fists and became a "basher" and punched through a wall.
He’d just gotten through the hole when one of the mob caught up with him. The single member of this cult made a grab for Bonus who dodged the hand and patted the man on the head. The man stopped (still inside the hole), stretched his arms out horizontally and started shaking his head. He’d become a "blocker".
If that didn’t stop the rest of the gang then it would atleast have slowed them down. Bonus ran down the corridor. He turned a corner and went into a room. According to the map he’d received as part of the tour, the unicycles were in the room exactly 1 floor below.
Once again, using his Lemmings skills, he brought out a pick-axe and started tunneling downwards. He went through the floor and landed in the room with the unicycles.
A dark robed figure was waiting for him. Presumably, the whole building had been attacked by this cult and one of them had been left here to guard the unicycles.
The guard drew his sword.
"Games have corrupted you! I must free your spirit and save the world from your madness!"
No problem. He was only one. Using the last of his lemming skills, Bonus pointed at this guard and a large 5 appeared above his head. The 5 became a four and it counted down to one, at which point the guard let out a helium voiced "Oh no!" and exploded.
Bonus grabbed a unicycle and rode it down the hole created by the explosion.
Now to find out if he still had all those old Unirally skills he’d picked up in the days of the Snes…
He rode to the staircase and jumped onto the handrail. He started going down, doing the odd trick like a twist to increase his speed. One of the cultists on the stairs swiped at him with a sword but Bonus jumped over is. Unfortunately, he jumped too far and missed the handrail turning and went through a window. Luckily, he managed to land on a drainpipe and scaled the building vertically.
When he reached the bottom, he got off the unicycle. He’d gotten out of the building but he still needed to get clear of it. He started running but soon found that he was surrounded by hundreds of the dark robed assailants. How big was this underground cult?
They slowly started closing in on him, edging closer by the second. It seemed like there was no escape...
The suddenly, a car came crashing through, knocking several of the dark figures flying. It stopped to a grinding halt, the door opened and Bonus saw who was in the driving seat. It was Sniper!
"Quick! Bonus! Get in!"
Bonus ran to the car, and true to the instincts he’d gained from playing DMA’s Grand Theft Auto games, he pulled out the bewildered driver, jumped in the car and drove through, running over any of the cultists that stood in his way. It wasn’t until he’d gone half a mile that he realised he’d left Sniper to be killed by those savages...
Oh well. These things happen. It was a pity but there were more urgent things to think about right now. Bonus picked up the car phone and dialed a number.
"Tony? This is urgent! Gather the entire forum for an emergency meeting! Yes, an emergency. Yes, it IS a matter of life and death. No it’s not a spoof! Just call the meeting and then I’ll explain what’s going on!"
He put down the phone and kept driving. Bad things had happened to the games industry before, but nothing this grim. And Bonus had a nasty feeling that he hadn’t seen the last of this cult.
It started as a mission of 5 Special Reserve agents going into Sniper’s mind in order to retrieve Grix from the Mega Drive cartridge, the little plastic case where both he and Bill Gates had been imprisoned.
Naturally, in the end, everyone ended up inside the brain, and because it was linked up to Grix’s mind inside the Street Fighter 2 cart, he managed to turn the world in Sniper’s head into the land of Arcadia, where everyone else got pretty much lost and the story went to some sort of standstill. :-)
Although it never got written, in the end, the mission was successful and Grix was rescued, leaving just Bill Gates inside the cartridge which was locked away for safe keeping.
Since the day when "The Overlord" of the games industry got trapped inside that Street Fighter cartridge, the games industry began to rebuild itself.
Nintendo was cleared of the N-chip scandal and was back into business.
Although they steered clear of devices that connected directly to the brain, they still made a fortune in good old fashioned consoles and console games.
With healthy competition from Sega and Sony, the Games industry flourished and prospered. So much so, game developers became celebrities and heroes.
Game development became much more open and many companies started giving free tours and open days on regular occasions.
That’s why Bonus wasn’t surprised when he got a letter from his favourite local company – DMA design – inviting him on a tour of the studio.
The tour was running smoothly. Although most of the "tourists" were casual gamers who were lost on what they were being shown, Bonus had gained a huge amount out of it, from game design and artwork through to programming and testing.
However, things were not all well. Just as the tour guide (also happened to be a game designer) starting showing a demo of the new Grand Theft Auto game, dark figures came crashing through the windows, the leader of which stabbed the tour leader with a knife and shouted.
"Violent games are evil! They are ruining our world. We must stop this madness!"
The attackers were people dressed in dark robes, armed to the teeth with various sharp weapons. They must’ve been an underground cult that had finally surfaced.
While the cultists terrorised the rest of the tourists, Bonus ran over to the fallen game designer. The dying man looked at him and uttered some last words.
"You have played our games a learnt well. Use your skills to escape and... avenge... us......"
With that he closed his eyes. Bonus turned around to see the leader of this gang standing and staring at him. The man was dressed in black robes but had golden stripes in various places, presumably signifying his status as a captain of some sort.
The face was masked.
Bonus stared right back.
"Who are you?"
The masked figure replied in a deep mystical voice.
"Who we are is not important. It is why we are here that is matters. Computer games are ruining our world. Young people are wasting their life being indoctrinated by little screens and imaginary world. It is turning our children into brainless psychopathic killers!"
Bonus would normally have laughed at this kind of irony, but people armed with metre long katanas should not to be laughed at, if you want to live that is...
"You can join us. It is not too late to forget your path and start your life fresh and new."
Bonus looked around. He was surrounded by these madmen and given a choice to either join them or die. Well he wasn't going to join them, but maybe he didn’t have to die.
He looked down at the dead game designer and remembered his last words.
"Remember what you’ve learnt from our games..."
He could escape. All he needed was a little distraction…
"LOOK! Out the window! Erm......... Someone’s selling pirated copies of that violent Quake 3 game to 5 year old children!!!"
The entire gang darted to the window and looked out.
Bonus had gotten the distraction he needed. Thinking back to old DMA games, he remembered the skills he had learned. He had to get out of this room. The door was locked. No reason why that should stop him. Just like the lemmings he had guided long ago, he clenched his fists and became a "basher" and punched through a wall.
He’d just gotten through the hole when one of the mob caught up with him. The single member of this cult made a grab for Bonus who dodged the hand and patted the man on the head. The man stopped (still inside the hole), stretched his arms out horizontally and started shaking his head. He’d become a "blocker".
If that didn’t stop the rest of the gang then it would atleast have slowed them down. Bonus ran down the corridor. He turned a corner and went into a room. According to the map he’d received as part of the tour, the unicycles were in the room exactly 1 floor below.
Once again, using his Lemmings skills, he brought out a pick-axe and started tunneling downwards. He went through the floor and landed in the room with the unicycles.
A dark robed figure was waiting for him. Presumably, the whole building had been attacked by this cult and one of them had been left here to guard the unicycles.
The guard drew his sword.
"Games have corrupted you! I must free your spirit and save the world from your madness!"
No problem. He was only one. Using the last of his lemming skills, Bonus pointed at this guard and a large 5 appeared above his head. The 5 became a four and it counted down to one, at which point the guard let out a helium voiced "Oh no!" and exploded.
Bonus grabbed a unicycle and rode it down the hole created by the explosion.
Now to find out if he still had all those old Unirally skills he’d picked up in the days of the Snes…
He rode to the staircase and jumped onto the handrail. He started going down, doing the odd trick like a twist to increase his speed. One of the cultists on the stairs swiped at him with a sword but Bonus jumped over is. Unfortunately, he jumped too far and missed the handrail turning and went through a window. Luckily, he managed to land on a drainpipe and scaled the building vertically.
When he reached the bottom, he got off the unicycle. He’d gotten out of the building but he still needed to get clear of it. He started running but soon found that he was surrounded by hundreds of the dark robed assailants. How big was this underground cult?
They slowly started closing in on him, edging closer by the second. It seemed like there was no escape...
The suddenly, a car came crashing through, knocking several of the dark figures flying. It stopped to a grinding halt, the door opened and Bonus saw who was in the driving seat. It was Sniper!
"Quick! Bonus! Get in!"
Bonus ran to the car, and true to the instincts he’d gained from playing DMA’s Grand Theft Auto games, he pulled out the bewildered driver, jumped in the car and drove through, running over any of the cultists that stood in his way. It wasn’t until he’d gone half a mile that he realised he’d left Sniper to be killed by those savages...
Oh well. These things happen. It was a pity but there were more urgent things to think about right now. Bonus picked up the car phone and dialed a number.
"Tony? This is urgent! Gather the entire forum for an emergency meeting! Yes, an emergency. Yes, it IS a matter of life and death. No it’s not a spoof! Just call the meeting and then I’ll explain what’s going on!"
He put down the phone and kept driving. Bad things had happened to the games industry before, but nothing this grim. And Bonus had a nasty feeling that he hadn’t seen the last of this cult.
It's been a while hasn't it...
I won't put the Fog Story in the main topic (I'll post it in the reply) so I'll use this space for a couple of guidelines.
ANYONE can write in this story, but naturally, if something is irrelevant or unreadable or something like that, it might well be ignored.
To participate properly in this story, please:
(1) Try to read what everyone else writes to keep up with the story.
Naturally, people will make the odd mistake and miss something, but try to keep up with what people have written to minimise mistakes.
(2) If you want your posts to be read, keep with good gramma and punctuation (not so much that we're fussy, it's just easier to read and understand. Reading should be enjoyable, not a chore trying to make out what's been written) and try to go for quality over quantity.
(3) Try not to write too much at once. It'll leave everyone else behind! :-)
(4) Stick to the plot. If the main plot doesn't suit you then go along with one of the subplots. Don't start changing the direction of the story at your whim. I remember about a year back some idiot would, in one single post, manage to take the story to heaven and back and twist it so much that it was barely recognisable.
I won't mention any names (mainly because I'd rather remain anonamous! ;-D) but just remember that it's a joint effort story, not simply the down to the imagination of a single derranged individual! :-)
Here's the story.
Enjoy! :-)
I won't put the Fog Story in the main topic (I'll post it in the reply) so I'll use this space for a couple of guidelines.
ANYONE can write in this story, but naturally, if something is irrelevant or unreadable or something like that, it might well be ignored.
To participate properly in this story, please:
(1) Try to read what everyone else writes to keep up with the story.
Naturally, people will make the odd mistake and miss something, but try to keep up with what people have written to minimise mistakes.
(2) If you want your posts to be read, keep with good gramma and punctuation (not so much that we're fussy, it's just easier to read and understand. Reading should be enjoyable, not a chore trying to make out what's been written) and try to go for quality over quantity.
(3) Try not to write too much at once. It'll leave everyone else behind! :-)
(4) Stick to the plot. If the main plot doesn't suit you then go along with one of the subplots. Don't start changing the direction of the story at your whim. I remember about a year back some idiot would, in one single post, manage to take the story to heaven and back and twist it so much that it was barely recognisable.
I won't mention any names (mainly because I'd rather remain anonamous! ;-D) but just remember that it's a joint effort story, not simply the down to the imagination of a single derranged individual! :-)
Here's the story.
Enjoy! :-)
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