Young Writers Society

Plot: For some people, Christmas is just another day, maybe even a bad day, and so why shouldn't they commit crimes just because it's Christmas?

Unfortunately, this means that the good guys have to go out there and stop them and all before they can eat their turkey! This is definitely a crisis... at Christmas.

Rules:

1. Don't kill others' characters.
2. Keep it PG 13 - mild swearing and no sexual references or descriptive nudity.
3. Have fun!

Characters

These are just ideas - feel free to claim one of them or make your own! Anything goes, but be sensible. If you're going to play a God, you still need to have some kind of weakness.

1. Rydia A super villain with the ability to turn everything he touches to gold. Normally wears gloves to negate this ability. This character does not like Christmas for personal reasons and has been calling his fellow villains all Christmas Eve to incite them to create chaos.
2. ShadowVyper A crazy scientist who wants to use an anti gravity gun he/ she has created to send everything off into space.
3. Iggy A rich teenager who has been dabbling in witchcraft and now knows how to bring small animals back from the dead (like rabbits or cats) to create zombie pets under his/ her control, as well as a few more basic spells.
4. Nike A government spy with lots of cool gadgets who wants to put the bad guys behind bars.
5. timmyjake A (not so) common burglar who chooses the wrong house to rob - one of the hero's or villain's and gets caught up in the events.
6. Sunshine A hero from medieval times who was accidentally teleported to the modern world by another hero and is now helping out while the teleporter to send him/ her home recharges/ is stuck here for good.

When do we Start?

Now! Feel free to discuss ideas in the DT, or just create a character and jump straight in.

Character Template
Feel free to use this or to make your own.

Code: Select all

[b]Name:[/b]

[b]Code Name:[/b] [optional]

[b]Hero/ Villain/ Neutral:[/b]

[b]Age:[/b]

[b]Personality:[/b]

[b]History:[/b]

[b]Strengths:[/b] [include special abilities here]

[b]Weaknesses:[/b]

[b]Other:[/b]

Hey, @Rydia. I have never done one of these before. Would you explain to me how to submit a character template? Do I submit it here? Thanks!

@TimmyJake Sure! If you look at the margin on the right, there's a 'Create new character' option. You submit the template there

Uhoh. I forgot to ask if I could be the burglar. I submitted my profile and then remembered. Can I take burglar? He isn't that common. He only robs certain houses and has a history. Blah, blah. Does he still fit in that character or should I alter him a bit?

That's fine, timmy! Small changes like that are cool

Daniel Stone | Midas | Dan's House

The mobile was crunched between his ear and his shoulder as Dan reached for a box on the top shelf of his cupboard.

"Yeah, you heard me. Yes I know what day it is!" What was it with super villains and not being up for a hard day of work because it was Christmas? Dan managed to get his fingers on the edge of the box and started clawing it toward him, which was very difficult with his gloves on. If he took them off though... gold box, bare feet. That was not a risk he was taking. Dan needed both his hands.

"Look, either you're in or out so just get with the program. All I'm asking is a little chaos on the streets - ice a few rivers or something. No, wait- not the rivers. They're probably already frozen this time of year. Look, just think of something, I'm not the ideas guy." Dan hung up the phone, dropped it on the floor and reached up to secure the box with both of his hands.

Daniel carried the box over to his bed and opened it quicker than a present on Christmas day. It was Christmas day, but Dan hadn't got any presents, except for a few pairs of socks from his mum and a woolly hat from his dad. Well that was just fine and dandy - and the hat was actually very cosy, while the socks looked smashing in gold - thanks mum. But Dan had a better idea. He was going to turn the senator's house to gold and that would be his present to himself.

Daniel reached into the box and pulled out a pair of gloves. He quickly stripped off his leather ones (with their chemical coating) and pulled his hands into the metallic but surprisingly flexible pair. They shone gold in the light, their ruby encrusted surface polished until he could see his face in it. A very golden and excited face. There was one thing which Dan really loved about these gloves though and as he pushed a button on top of one, both gloves folded back to reveal his hands.

Dan rushed over to the exposed, golden wall of his bedroom and he stroked it. "Time to share the wealth around!" Dan laughed as he grabbed his chemical spray and started applying it to some fresh clothes. He had to look his best today! And gold was far too heavy on his complexion...

Brandon Peck| Falcon(maybe)|His Home

The alarm clock refused to stop in incessant beeping. Brandon moaned and turned over, burying himself beneath the pillows to stop the annoying sound. It didn't work. The alarm was still ringing along, loud and annoying as ever.

"Can't Christmas be a time when I don't have to do anything?" He asked himself. "I don't have any friends. I don't go to church. So really I should just stay in bed today!"

But that alarm was not going to stop on its own. He threw the covers back and moved his feet to the floor. After groping for his jeans that were somewhere, and putting them on, he went over to the alarm and smashed the snooze button irritably.
"By now with so much technology, they should have invented an alarm clock that only wakes people up on workdays, and leaves them alone on the weekends and holidays," he muttered
He almost left the room, but remembered his morning exercises. First up, jumping jacks. "Get the blood flowing," he breathed. Then dropping to the floor, he made himself do pushups, working his triceps, shoulders and chest until they burned. Stomach today? He stood up and told himself no. He would not exercise his stomach again for the millionth time. His weak spot would not get better.

The doctors said it was just part of his genetics. Whatever it was, Brandon hated it. He hated being weak, being defeated. That spot on his stomach, once it was discovered by the police, had been a key tool in his capture ten years ago.
He could still see himself in that prison. Nothing to do. No one to talk to. Enduring nine years of that was pure torture, but he lived through it. So why? Why did he jump right back into his life of crime?

It was just too addicting. That adrenaline as he made his escape. The feeling of stretching his hand out to take something that wasn't his. He just couldn't stop, not even for a day. It made him wonder what he was going to do on Christmas. Usually he didn't stop for the holidays. After all, did the police stop their job? His job was to be the bad guy, the burglar. Their job was to try and catch him.

His decisions were a little hazy that morning, his sleepiness not quite worn off.
Should I make coffee as a Christmas treat?" He jokingly asked himself. Usually he was too lazy to make coffee in the morning, skipping that and going right into his personal favorite, a shock-top beer. But today...

While he placed the filter in the coffee make and poured in the grounds, he noticed that he had a message on his answering machine. "Better see who was bothering me last night." He said.

I was just wondering if you would come to church today, honey. We will save a spot today in our pew just for you. Would you come and pay your respects to the one who saved you? We will be singing Christmas songs and praying. Will you come?

He stopped filling the coffee-maker with water to shut the answering machine off. His mother was always trying to convert him from his life of crime, but it was a trench he was too deeply dug into. He was too caught up in it. Even on Christmas, he couldn't take a break from it.

While he waited for the coffee, he read the paper. "Main headlines, boring." He said, crumpling up the snowman page and throwing it in the trash. "Down to the business section."

"Hmmm," He said thoughtfully. "Man, there is a lot of money out there, but not a lot of prized items in the business sections."

He walked over to his desk beside his stereo set and fumbled for the key to open the file drawer. He scanned through it, finding prospective "clients". Scanning through that, he found one to his liking.
"Daniel Stone, aka Midas" he said to himself. "Alchemist, turns everything to gold." He laughed quietly. "At least this way, it won't be hard to pick up something off him of value!"

He poured himself some coffee, using his favorite mug. "Just like they say," He said, taking a loud sip. "No rest for the wicked!"

Emma Thomas Sur | Spy | Headquarters

"Looks like a code Greyish-red." my co-worker, O'Malley said.

I looked over at him, taking in the ginger. Yes, he was like Ron Weasley, but less attractive and had so much more freckles. His hair was patted down to the point it looked greasy and un appealing.

"That's not even a real code." I huffed.

He gave me one of his 'don't-go-there' faces and started to type something on the computer. I, on the other hand, went to my office.

The building we were in consisted of sixty floors. Each had at least twenty offices with seven bathrooms. Real bathrooms, not just toilets. We could bathe all day long! It was in a very minimalist setting and was all futuristic. Computers were high-tech. We used Holograms, touch-screens and so much more. I hopped onto the lift which was all glass and pressed my level, Holmes. It rode up in the speed of light and took me up. It whooshed through the shaft, making my hair stand up.

"Holmes," The elevator spoke.

The doors flew open and I walked out, admiring my floor. It was different from the other floors. I let it blend in with the building, so it was minimal. But it also had Christmas decorations. I had a tree right in the middle with homey ornaments. There were some comfy stuff, like my sofa. It was a peach color and was all cotton. My desk though was glass with a leather black chair, so big it could fit two of me.

"Holmes, come in, Holmes." my side vibrated. It was my pager.

I took it off of my belt and held a button.

"What is it, O'Malley?" I hissed.

"Code greyish..." I had cut him off.

"No such code."

"Someone is trying to ruin Christmas, sir."

That's when my heart froze and I stared at the pager.

Lady Ellyn of Montfort I Medieval Heroine I The Middle of The Street

The sky was an odd an odd shade of blue.

This was the first thing Lady of Ellyn of Montfort, the excellent swords person and heroine, noticed apon being jolted into twenty-first century America. The sky wasn't blue, not the way she thought of blue, in any means; it was more gray, an odd smoky color that covered the clouds.

Then she noticed the buildings. Particularly, the building her horse was about to run into. "Woah!" She pulled up on the brindle of the horse, and he halted just before he could smack his nose into a...well, Lady Ellyn knew it was building, though she did not know of what sorts.

That Benedict! He was a foolish alchemist, and should stick to the task of turning lead into gold, a task he told her was impossible; she had believed in the wrong thing! Instead of sending the monster to a forbidden realm, he had sent her!

This realm smelled foul. The buildings above her towered as high as castles, though they weren't nearly as interesting, simply blockish shapes.

Lady Ellyn sat up higher on her horse, glad to have some dignity that could be carried with her. "Benedict! I should like to be sent back!" She calls to the sky, but nothing happened. "Benedict! Benedict, I shalt have your useless head for this! Benedict, take me home! Benedict!" She is practically screaming at the odd-colored sky now, but to no gain.

"Um, miss? May I help you with something?"

Someone else was staring up at her. Though they had a soft face, they also had short hair, and so gender could not be determined, nor bothered with.

"Yes. I wish to be sent home. This odd realm is already unnerving me. "

"I honestly have no clue what you're talking about."

"Are you daft? I was sent by magic and you shalt go get me a magician to send me hope." I look at the person. "I am Lady Ellyn of Montfort, and my command is very important!"

The person look at me, tilting their head. "How about I take you inside, Ellyn."

"Lady Ellyn. Lady Ellyn of Montfort."

They don't say anything else.

Anybody? I think it might be Nike.

Daniel Stone | Midas | Dan's House

After he was dressed, Dan crossed the room to take a look at himself in the mirror, but of course he'd gotten a bit silly last week and the mirror was now gold. Dan let out a groan and kicked it over.

Sometimes, sometimes Dan got so tired of seeing gold. Sometimes he woke up in this room and he looked around at the golden walls, the curtains which had fallen from their rails because he'd accidentally caught them while respraying his gloves. Sometimes he woke up and he wanted to throw everything out of the window.

Daniel hurried downstairs to get some breakfast because he couldn't start a hard day's work without having his breakfast first! Dan filled his bowl with cereal and as he crunched down on the cheerios, he thought he heard another sound in the other room. Was somebody early? Dan had invited some cohorts over to his for an after party, but the villainy hadn't even begun yet.

"Hello?" Dan called uncertainly, as he dropped the golden spoon on the table. "Hey, if you've come for the party, you're early..."

Daniel felt a brush of anxiety at the thought of someone having come into his house. He didn't leave the door unlocked, but it was true that villains rarely waited to be invited. Dan wanted company today, he craved it. But he didn't know that he wanted to be alone with any one member of that company.

Brandon Peck(Falcon)| Midas' home| About 8:30

"Gloves? Check. Mask? Check. Taser? Check." Brandon went over his burglary kit, making sure that everything was in there. He didn't want to get to Midas' house and find out that he didn't have a skeleton key or gloves. That would end up in a disaster.
"Should I take my sky-diving backpack?" He tossed it into a pile beside his tool-kit and double checked his file on Midas' house.

"Two stories, large windows, bushes all way around." He shut the file and replaced it in his cabinet, locking it behind him. "I think I can just leave it here for today. If I have to jump, the bushes will cushion my fall. Besides, it wouldn't work on a building so low."

He triggered the remote to the garage door and then side-stepped through the stuff in his garage to get to his car, knocking over cans of paint, boxes of antiques and mixed boxes of home stuff and burglared items.

His car was an older red Honda Civic. The scratches and dents in the side showed its many years of heavy use. His reason for keeping it was to keep hidden. He could have afforded a Lamborghini if he wanted, but he wanted to fit in with the rest of the crowd. With a Lamborghini, he would stand out. Besides, this was his burglary car. Beside that one, carefully wedged into a spot just barely big enough, was his play car, a Mustang GT.

"If only I could take that to my burglaries," he chuckled. As he opened the door to the Honda, he ran a hand along the Mustang's hood. "Beautiful car. I don't want to it to get beat up during an escapade."

When he finally arrived at Midas' house, after fighting his way through Christmas traffic, which he hadn't been expecting a lot of, he drove a block past it. He didn't want anyone to get suspicious, especially Midas if he was home.

As he passed it, he noticed a few key things. The first thing was a triple car garage with automatic doors for each of them. And then he noticed the single car on the outside of the garage, parked oddly in the drive like Midas had been in a hurry. Either he was a hoarder like Brandon or he had four cars? He thought he had too many sometimes with just his two!

He parked the car in the parking lot of a city park a few blocks from his house and decided to walk to his house. But carrying a tool-box and holding a mask would raise suspicion immediately in this town. So he stuffed his burglary tools into a backpack and put the gloves and mask into his pocket.

When he arrived at Midas' house, the first thing he did was check to see if any of the neighbors were watching. He didn't want to put on his mask yet, as that would immediately imply what his intentions were, but he didn't want to be seen in his attempt either. No one was out, so everything seemed to be a go.

The car in the drive was what he wanted. After glancing in the window, he confirmed what he had hoped would be in there. A remote garage door opener was fastened to the visor. It was locked, like he assumed, and his skeleton key didn't work on it. No matter, he thought. Just get out the glass drill.

He unzipped his backpack and found the tool he wanted. It was small, looking like an ordinary drill, except for the strange tip at the end. It would bore a hole through the glass quickly and silently. And since it was battery powered, it required no cords. Perfect.

After it was done, he replaced the drill back in his backpack and stuck a hanger into the hole he had drilled. He carefully tilted the hanger till he got it into the position he wanted and then he pushed the remote.

The door began to open, and he waited until it was open two feet, and then he pushed it again to stop the door. There was no need to make more noise than necessary. Replacing the now bent hanger in his pack, he slid it underneath the door and then, lying flat on his back, he followed his pack underneath the door.

Once he stood up and his eyes became used to the light(or rather lack there of), he noticed what was inside the garage.
"Oh my-," He didn't get any further with his exclamation. He was too entranced with the car in front of him. It was a Lamborghini.

He trailed his hand on the sleek body of the car as he walked by, admiring the style of the car. Glancing over, he saw two more beautiful sports cars. Like him, this guy liked cool cars. The only difference between them was Midas had more money that Brandon did. Either that or he spent it differently.

The garage door leading into the house wasn't locked, but he hadn't been expecting it to be. For some reason, people assumed that since their garage door was locked, they were safe from intruders. Those people were always the ones to be robbed or killed, usually the latter because they put up a fight. But he wasn't there to kill anyone, he was just there to get something of value quickly, and then get out of there without being seen.

He opened the door slowly, trying to avoid the creaks that always sounded off like an alarm. True to form, a loud, high pitched creak sounded off, making the hair on his neck stand up. And then he remembered. His gloves.... His mask! He had forgotten all about putting them on!

He knew it was seeing those cars that had made him forget. He felt like hitting his head on the door, but of course he didn't. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled on his gloves and his mask.

Better late than never, He thought.

Jay Vankleve | Eis | Somewhere Where One Can Talk Without Being Overheard

Lowering his hand from his ear, he shoved the phone back into the pocket of his cloak. Ice a few rivers? What kind of an idea was that? Maybe in the summer, but at this time of the year half the rivers were already iced over anyway; icing them wouldn't really be very productive. But, if it was chaos around town that Midas wanted, then what Jay really needed to do was go to the city streets and start icing the roadways and the cars alike. He could also cause a few blizzards to cause a little more chaos and hopefully it would delay some plane flights too, adding to the chaos.

With a lifting of his arm and a wave of his hand, Jay began sending blossoms of snow and ice into the sky. He stood there, arm outstretched, rotating his hand and gesturing the snow to come down. He spoke in quiet tones, whispering to the chilling breeze that passed across his lips, commanding the multitude of ice and snow under his possession.

The air quickly chilled and with it the temperature rapidly dropped. For all but a few, such as him, it would have been unbearably cold. But he enjoyed the cold, it was his friend, it was his companion with whom he would never part.

The wind picked up, and the snow fell heavier. Everything in the vicinity became covered in layers of ice, frost, and snow; including nearby roads and windows.

If this didn't cause some chaos, then he didn't know what would.

John-Harry | The Twins | The Twins' House

"So if only I switch these two cables, I should obtain-" There was a spark that came from the remote-controlled-wifi-lightsystem-override as Harry Smith modified the light controller. It had originally been constructed by Harry's siamese scientist twin, John Williams, as a toy that would increase the potency of Christmas lights that hanged from trees. Unfortunately for John, Harry had now taken control of the body, for a while at least.

Harry Smith, master mugger and mayhem maker (a title that he had created himself, and of which he was infinitely proud), had knowledge of a part of his scientist twin's brain, and knew what he had to do to reverse the functions of the remote control.

Harry inspected the control, making sure they weren't completely destroyed. They weren't. A little smile creeped into his distorted face. He was ready. Now the little machine would do the exact opposite than it was originally supposed to do. It could now power off any light from a half-mile radius.

Time to ruin some Christmases, thought Harry.

He used his watch to teleport outside into the streets. The bad thing about it was that it wasn't necessarily precise, and he couldn't always know where he would land. Right now he appeared in front of a mansion, with a very large garage that had at least five cars. Most of it was gold. The door was open.

He took his machine from his pocket and pressed a button. Every single light from the street went out.

"Well, that went better than expected," Harry comented to himself.

Then he was about to teleport to another place, preferably another rich person's mansion, when he felt his mind fading. And then John Williams was in control of the body. He looked around, noticing all the light's were off, and then he looked at the remote control in his hand.

"Oh no," he exclaimed, "What have I done?"

Emma Thomas Sur | Headquarters

Okay.

Why was there a cos-playing lady in front of my building? Or maybe it was one of those muggers trying to distract me with such nonsense. Or, very doubtfully, she was really from the medieval era. Which is, of course, impossible.

Time travel existed, I even used it. But someone to travel from that time period here was worrisome. Someone could have traveled from here and went there and lived there. they could have accustomed than came back, acting the same as if they were still there. But I don't believe this happened in this situation. I swallowed hard and looked at the woman.

She had to be around my age since her face was wrinkle-free. I could tell already she was a fighter by the strength in her eyes and the fact her body was pretty ripped.

"So, Ellyn..." I started to say, but she cut me off.

"Lady Ellyn of Montfort." she hissed back.

"Right, are you thirsty, hungry?" I asked.

We came into my floor. At first, when we walked in, she didn't seem move by the
looks of the place. She just shook her head all the time with a frown on her pretty face. Her explanation for the futuristic appearance? Black Magic. Black Bloody Magic. I wouldn't blame her if she really did come from that time period. But also, if I were her, I'd be freaking out altogether. She didn't even blink.

"No, I need to go back!" she looked up at the ceiling, well, at the skylight. I had a square shape made from them in the middle of my ceiling.

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about, miss..." I started.

"I don't belong here. I was sent here by accident and it would be nice to go back." she hissed.

"I don't know what I can do! I don't even know if you're telling the truth!"

"Of course I am. I don't lie."

Shaking my head, I walked up to my desk. I tapped my computer screen and it came to life. Then I searched around it and found the application. If I use it, I can find out if she really is from that era. When I do that, then I can go to helping her or whatever. I clicked the app and it came up.

It was a scanner. It scanned the person's identity. If the person acted really well, it could fool the detector, but only for a while. The scanner can tell when the person was born and how old they'd be. Let's say this person traveled back in time, it would show how old the person is, and how old they should be. Since it is impossible for someone to travel in that time period, I don't know if it will work. It's not used to this kind of stuff.

Though, in college I learned about this magician that sent evil beasts to random time periods with a machine. But i didn't believe it was real or even possible. He lived in the medieval time as well. It was merrily a myth. So this lady was just trying to fool me, and my scanner.

I opened one of my desk drawers and pulled out the scanner's attachment. It looked like a normal tablet (iPad, not Advil) and turned it on. Once it flicked to life, the app on the computer started to scan. I walked over to the lady and faced the tablet to her so it could run it's beam over her.

A green light flashed from the tablet and ran over her body in a quick second. Once it finished, I faced the scanner toward me and looked at the screen.

She was twenty years old, born in the Medieval times. She was meant to be one-thousand-three-hundred-and-ninety-five years old. She was really Lady Ellyn.

"Shit," I sighed.

"What was that? What is that?" she huffed.

"Lady Ellyn... let me help you." I looked at her as I spoke.

"If you only can with your... magic."

"Trust me, I can."

And then the lights in my floor started to flash red. Dammit. Not another troublesome Christmas. I huffed, setting the tablet back on my desk. Lady Ellyn jumped, looking around the room in fright. I, for one, ran back to my desk and clicked a button on my phone, reaching to the downstairs security floor.

"What the fuck is going on down there?" I yelled.

"Someone tried to break into Gold's house. Take care of it." Demertria spoke back.

"What's that?" Lady Ellyn asked, not even scared anymore.

I looked over at her and rolled my eyes. Danger, and a medieval lady, what else could go wrong? I needed to take care of so much in one dammed night. This is when I needed Santa Clause to give me his sleigh so I could time travel through the whole world in one freaking night.

"Send The SOHS down there." I spoke.

"Alright, on their way." she responded, then hung up.

I clicked the phone again, remembering something. "And make sure you cover his house with security, we don't need more shit going around. There is something wrong with the sky as well, contact Kazran Sardick, tell him to control the situation. And give that horse some damn feed, will ya?"

"Right, right. Got it. What's going on with Lady of Medieval?" I had every employer on speed dial, this happened to be my right hand men, Bartek.

"I'll see," and I hung up.

Daniel Stone | Midas | Dan's House | 8:40am

Dan was sure he'd heard a noise and when nobody answered, he edged out of the kitchen and into the hallway which attached on to the other rooms. The strange thing was that it had sounded like it came from this side of the house, but there was only really the garage this side...

"Hello?" Daniel's voice was more stern this time and when he got no answer he knew that whoever it was had to be up to no good. This wasn't hat Dan had in mind when he called up his associates and told them to do naughty things... "You know, when I said you should wreck someone's Christmas, I didn't mean my own-"

Daniel had his gloves on open and as he walked by a small statue he had on display, he picked it up. The stone turned to gold and was suddenly much heavier and much more deadly in his hand. He pushed forward slowly and he thought he heard a creek as he entered the garage. Dan only got a very brief look at the man from the light of the hallway before the lights went out, leaving only a bar of light from the raised garage door. "Hey!"

This was definitely not cool. Dan made a run for his cars first, feeling along to find them in the near dark and turning everything his fingers scraped against into gold. If he found the burglar in the dark... well tough look to him. Dan turned the wheels of the first car he found to gold, but the sound of an engine roaring to life drew him further in. That was his Lamborghini!

The light on the car flared to life and Dan dropped the statue he was holding, darting forward to quickly lay his hands on the back wheels. If he had been any other man, that might have been the last time he saw his prized possession, but even as the burglar revved the engine and made as if to drive through the garage door (surely he didn't really intend to do that to his baby?) Dan turned the back wheels to gold and the car clunked as it struggled to drag them along. Better than any boring clamp.

"Dan scrambled to his feet but before he could get anywhere, the man in the car got out and knocked him down. Daniel reached around for something to grab, anything, and he got a hold on the man's sleeve, quickly turning the whole material to gold. He felt the weight of the man collapse over him and came face to face with his assailant, but his arms were pinned under the golden torso. Dan couldn't have turned the guy to gold if he wanted to.

"Who are you, I don't even know you," Dan hissed as he realised this was just... a regular burglar? Dan had thought he was safe from common crooks since the word got around that his gold stuff didn't stay gold, but apparently they had other idea about how to make money off of his gift. Steal his baby would he, Dan would show him! Or just as soon as he got free anyway...

Just then, there was a loud bang and Dan was blinded as a flare went off in the garage. When the sunburst in front of his eyes died down, there was a whole swarm of people in there with them and the garage door had been thrown wide open. All the people were holding guns and had to be the special services or something. Well that was just great, now he was getting saved by the good guys. If the others heard about this, he was going to be a laughing stock.

"Gold, what's going on in here?" One of them called. "We caught this guy skulking about outside with some kind of strange device." Daniel tried to crane his head but he didn't recognise the man who quickly insisted: "That wasn't me! Well it was, but you don't understand-"

Meanwhile, two of the special forces guys or whoever they were had come over and were trying to roll the burglar off his chest. That would be real nice of them because then he might be able to speak or, you know, breathe.

Brandon Peck | Daniel's house | About 8:50

Well, this was a strange turn of events. Brandon had broken into this Midas' house, just walked in like a foot, and then all hell had broken loose!

Fast forward thirty seconds and he was lying on the ground, being held down by the heaviest straight-jacket he had ever been in. And he would know... He had been in several.

He couldn't move anything, save for his fingers. All that guy Midas had done was touch his jacket, but he had instantly turned it to gold. Probably the only reason he hadn't been turned to gold as well was that he had fallen on top of him before it could take effect.

Fast forward another thirty seconds and the garage door was up all the way, a group of men rushing in, pointing guns at everything that moved. He would have laughed at their fake stern expressions, save for their guns were pointed in his direction.

One of the guys stepped forward... He couldn't tell them apart. They all wore sunglasses and black suits, presumably because they either thought it made them look more intimating or because it looked cool.

Anyway, he helped the Midas guy up. "We caught this guy skulking about outside with some kind of strange device."

Brandon tried to sit up, but it was no use. The jacket was too heavy. So he just turned his head so that he could see the speaker. "That wasn't me! Well, it was, but you don't understand-"

"Save the crap for the judge, Falcon." One of them walked closer to him. "We have been watching you for a long time."

"Oh really?" Brandon raised an eyebrow beneath his mask. "If so, why haven't you caught me before?"

The special forces guy started to speak, but shut his mouth. His expression turned even sterner than before, definitely an act. No doubt he was fuming on the inside. Turning his back to him, he gestured to the other men. "Cuff him fellows. Its time we took this guy downtown."

Knowing that Brandon couldn't move his torso, they approached him rather carelessly. To his own surprise, Brandon didn't kick out at them or try anything else that they would call "funny business."

They tried to stand him up, but they found that they couldn't lift him. Well, when two of them tried, they were able to lift him about a foot off the ground.

"This jacket's pretty heavy guys," Brandon said. "You aren't going to be able to move me. I guess I'll just stay here until the jacket turns back to normal."

"Unless we take the jacket off him," one of them suggested.

They all shrugged their shoulders. It was worth a try. While one of them stood in front, pointing a pistol at Brandon, the others slowly eased him out of the jacket.

Luckily, it was a loose jacket, so there was some room for them to ease his arms out. It was also a heavy duty, thick winter jacket, so it's gold form was extremely heavy. That was the only way.

Once they had pulled the jacket off him, they pulled him to his feet. Then they all pulled their guns.

"Put your hands on your head."

"Nah, that won't be necessary," Brandon said easily. But they jerked with the pistol at his arms, so he sighed and put them on his head like he was told to.

He started to walk to the car outside when he noticed that Daniel(Midas, whatever) was lip-talking to him frantically.

Looking over at him, he could just barely make out what he was trying to tell him. I'll take care of the guns. You take care of the men. That was his best guess to what Dan was trying to tell him, anyway

He nodded slightly, enough for Dan to know that it was a yes, but not enough for the special forces guys to know what was going on.

What did he have to loose?

If Dan did go through with what he said, and he could turn all of their guns to gold, startling them, probably making the guns useless, then he would do his part and deal with the special forces guys. If Dan couldn't go through with it? No big deal. He would just watch him fail and nothing would happen, except Dan would get in trouble with them too.

He was game.