Saving the Young Writers Society

Some of you might remember the storybook started on the backup site when YWS was down.

Gladius and I are bringing it back because it was way too much fun.

Probably a good idea to at least skim the previous version of the storybook before jumping in here. We're basing a lot of our stuff off what happens in there.

The mission:

YWS has been taken over by the CEO— An evil zombie king bent on destroying the World Wide Web. They, along with their co-plotters Snoink's Evil Minions, have kidnapped Nate and hidden him somewhere far away, and are using the YWS fortress to plot their attack. The minions are dealing with Nate's kidnapping, while the zombies are slowly reaching out and hunting down everything in the YWS Forest surrounding the fortress.

The groups:

You can play in one of two (an optional third) group.

~Those fighting the zombies
~Those fighting the minions/finding Nate
~(Optional) Those working for the minions

The reason those working for the minions is optional is nobody needs to be forced into that role. However, if you want to plot new ways of hiding Nate and plot against all of the good guys, go right ahead.

The CEO's actions (and any posts he should make) will be controlled by myself or Glad.

Group leaders:

As follows:
Minion Leader: AquaMarine
Fighting Minions/Finding Nate Leader: Elinor Brynn
Fighting Zombies Leader: Rosey Unicorn and Gladius
The CEO: Rosey Unicorn and Gladius

Plot:

None! Half the fun of this storybook last time was being able to do whatever and throw in whichever random twist we wanted. This also means no profiles. You will be playing as yourself, and "yourself" can be just about annnything you want. It should be obvious within a few posts which group you're in. If there's doubt, or you want to make sure, post which group you're in at the beginning of your first post. Also, post which group you're in on the DT so it's easier to keep track of everybody.

There will be a bit of planned stuff at the beginning, but that's just to get the story going. After awhile it shall be mostly left to YWS for creation.

Setting:

Depends on where you are. If you're attacking the zombies, you're going to be in the underground caves, forests, and maybe mountains around the YWS Fortress. If you're going to find Nate/go after the Minions, you could be in the forest, by the waterfall, or even the Writer's Block desert. If you're with the Minions, you could be inside the YWS Fortress or in any number of secret evil locations.

This would most likely start as we go to the Safe Zone somewhere outside the fortress (if you're finding Nate/fighting zombies). You can write some adventures to get you there and tell people YWS is invaded. However, if you're a Minion or you're going after the minions, you can start off in another location.

Rules:

~Magic is allowed (however, if you play as a shapeshifter/powerful mage, the CEO will want to get his hands on you and you're at a much higher risk of capture/people going after you.)

~No god-modding

~No invincible characters

~Nothing graphic (ie- no very gruesome descriptions of killing)

~ No romance! (Sorry guys. It'd be a biiit weird to pair up actual YWS members like that)

~Keep the language 12+

~No killing other characters (you can kill zombies though)

~Feel free to pull out just about any weapon you want (so long as it is PG)

~Please keep this in third person (you can call yourself your nickname instead of your full username)

~Try to put every piece of information we'd need about you (magic, nicknames, group) in your first post and the DT. In the first post, you can work this info in the prose.

~Have fun!

Feel free to jump in at any time. Even if we're on page 20 you can probably find a way to squeeze into the action. If you're completely lost, PM me or Glad and we'll fill you in on what's going on.

We will start once the fighting-minions and minions group have a leader.

Discussion Thread

Starter post! Don't be afraid to come in after we start, though; just jump right in wherever you can find (or carve out) a spot. Post in the DT, too.
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Ah...feels good to be back at YWS after such a long break, Gladius thought to herself happily. She was soaring high on a thermal over the World Wide Web, quickly covering the ground toward the Fortress thanks to a boost from her Bookmarks. Maybe I can actually update TWOD now, haha...

Bypassing the usual waterfall-tunnel leading through the User Registration Tunnels, Gladius circled high over YWS and the courtyard known as Home Yard. She began a lazy spiral toward the Yard, planning to make a brief check-in and see if anything interesting had been posted on the New Bulletin Board before entering the Chat Suite Lounge.

As she descended, however, she noticed there was an unusual lack of activity in the Yard. Everyone who was anyone stopped there at least for a few minutes to see what was new since they'd last visited, but the Yard was deserted. Stray pages of a Dramatic Short Story went tumbling by as the dragon made a low sweep over the courtyard and came to a stop perched on the ramparts surrounding it.

Just as she touched-down, however, her sharp ears detected an eerie moan from within the depths of the corridor leading farther into the heart of YWS--toward the Group Lounges and Advanced Critiques sections. Her spine tingled with alarm and dread at the sound, and she shuffled her wings nervously, unwilling to shift back into human form as she normally did when she landed.

Something wasn't right at the Young Writers Society.

Gathering her courage, Gladius at last decided to at least take a look around before leaving. Maybe she could find a clue as to what was going on, and find a mod to report to or another member to team up with. One thing was for sure--she was going to get to the bottom of this, one way or the other.

And so, dagger in hand, human-Gladius stealthy moved down the echoing, shadowy halls of the seemingly-abandoned YWS Fortress.

So this is a bit of a backpost.

*

Rosey's human ears twitched as she heard commotion coming from the Hidden Zone of YWS. To her JM status most of it was locked, but she could hear muffled whispers.

She quickly checked the JM room, seeing a message left by Big Brother.

Nate has gone missing. We're going out to find him. Keep an eye for unusual activity

Rosey felt her chest tighten as she read the note. She went past the other groups, looking for anything and to warn as many as possible. She stopped, however, she found a room simply marked with a black pig.

She could have sworn that room hadn't been there before.

She used her key to access inside, finding plan after plan. Most of them were dealing with getting into Admin HQ, but others seemed to deal with getting a large group inside the YWS Fortress. She found torn pieces of paper, littered with Nate's name and, she thought she could find "kidnap" on a related fragment. Rosey gulped when she saw the signatures on the in-tact documents.

Snoink's Evil Minions had truly turned evil.

Rosey trotted back to The Writer's Corner, alerting everybody she could find to go to the Safe Zone. As she got closer to the now-abandoned Writer's Corner, she shifted into her unicorn form. She'd do any locking up needed before leaving herself. The other JMs, she was sure, would do the same for their sections.

By now, YWS had gone eerily quiet. Rosey could hear moans echoing through the halls, and she shuddered. She didn't want to meet anybody who was coming through those halls alone.

Rosey shifted human and pulled out a dagger from one of the Research topic's cabinets. Now she felt a bit safer. She tested the edge and thought. Are their any Minions left in YWS? Will I need to deal with them?

She just hoped everybody would get out of YWS safely.

*

Plot note- Minions don't actually have to stay in the YWS fortress, and you can write your own little adventure leaving YWS/meeting with me or the Minion-fighters. Have fun!

Loveless:

Okay last stop on my list, Loveless thought happily to herself, after I check YWS I could go back to Myspace and have a nice sleep. She walked in happily, entering through the Writer's Corner as she most always did.
"Hello...everyone?" It was completely empty. It's never completely empty! She quickly exited and ran down the hall leading to the main ground. That was empty too! What in God's name was going on, she thought frantically.
"Hello? Everyone? Is anybody online?" Nothing. Her voice echoed through the vacant space, seeming to go on forever into the vast silence. No new posts. No people rushing around to get their story posted before bedtime. No inspired artists dragging their artwork to the Art and Photography thread. Nothing. Loveless drew in a sharp panicked gasp and conjured up a banana nut muffin, those always calmed her down for some reason.
"There has to be someone here," she mumbled to herself, "this place can't be completely empty! Something is going on." She entered the hallway again, walking with determination, making sure to check every room on my way down. "The JMs would know what was going on. And there has to be one of them on. There has to..." Her pace quickened as she jogged down the hallway, screaming out the JM names. Oh, someone please answer me! She begged silently while crushing her muffin in her fist. This place can't be empty. Someone, anyone, please!

Aqua squinted at the muffin in front of her. It was a normal, muffin-y shape, but had a green hue to it that she wasn't entirely sure should be there.

"Oh well," she muttered, "am I evil or am I evil?"

Tentatively pushing a fragment of the muffin into her mouth, Aqua's nose wrinkled and she spat the chewed mess onto the floor.

"Ew! Ewewewewewewew!" She leapt of the chair and hopped around the room, gagging and glaring at the innocent little gadget on the desk. It had been months and the stupid thing hadn't yet produced an edible muffin.

But not everything was as terrible as the spat out food on the floor made it look. She was in the YWS fortress, wasn't she? Oh yes. Snoink's minions had finally taken a stand, and they were now lording it over YWS.

Crossing the room and pressing the button on the vending machine for a lemonade, Aqua surveyed the place she was in. At the moment, she'd settled down in the News sections. It was relatively new and clean; there was space and places she could wreak.

And to think, just a few days ago I was a normal JM. She chuckled and sipped the lemonade.

Ah, yes. It was all good.

Lauren strolled through the abandoned hall of the news section. News-printed pages scattered the floors, as they were left by scrambling YWS members. Lauren smiled, letting her hand rest on the hilt of her glorious sword. She had just left the poetry forums after infecting everything on the first three pages with chatspeak.

"Hey Aqua," she said to her evil companion, who was sipping lemonade near the vending machine. "Everything evil today?"

"I can't do anything any other way," she said with a devilish smile.

The two walked into the opinion news room and lounged on a couch. "I still can't believe it," Lauren said.

"What?" Aqua asked, setting her lemonade on a table.

"It's just great how our plan worked," Lauren said. "First, we let Nate gain our trust and place us as Junior Moderators. Then, we use that influence to help our magnificent leader carry out her dasterdly plans. And to think, just a few months ago we were just regular members!"

Lette sat in the Romantic Short Story Cove, her foot bouncing up and down erratically. She was anxious. It had been two days since she posted her short story, but no one had reviewed. No one had even looked at it!

She conjured up a vegan cookie and watched as it exploded, little chocolate chips falling to the floor around her. Normally, Rosey would have already sent her message, gently telling her that it was not okay to leave chocolate chips on the floor.

Lette sighed, as she pushed her self from a sitting position. As she stood up, she noticed for the first time that there was no obnoxious laughter coming from the Chat Room Suite. Lette poked her head into the room tentatively. It was a rare occasion when there was no one in the chatroom. Even F.R.E.D was gone...

She suddenly heard a loud groan and stopped in her tracks. Her eyes fluttered closed as she felt hot breath on her leg...

The empty halls creaked with every step she took, and Sock slowed down abruptly, listening to the noises her heeled boots made when she moved extra-slow. Perhaps wearing clunky boots wasn't the greatest idea. She whipped them off hastily, feeling the chill of the hard, wooden floor seep into her socks.

Off to the right was the News section, relatively unscathed by the usual thousands of footprints, scratches and dents revolving around rooms like the Romance Fiction thread. Strolling inside, she witnessed Aqua and Lauren lounging on a soft, gray couch. In the midst of their conversation they paused, eying the space above Sock's head with disapproval. "You're lucky we allowed you into our group, Sock," Aqua commented, narrowing her eyes. "Nate was doubtful when you assured him that everything would be alright. I knew he wouldn't trust you without a glowing green name floating atop your head."

Sock gasped, sprinting to a mirror lazily leaning against the wall. Her hands flew wildly above her head and across her dull, black name. "But - but, it used to be purple! It was such a nice purple!" She sank to her knees, redness puffing up around her terrified eyes.

Lauren approached her and grabbed her arm, lifting Sock up. "Now is not the time for this, Sock. Look over there," she nodded to a spread out sheet of paper tacked to the wall. "That's the layout of YWS, the entrances and exits. All have been blocked off, save one." She turned to Aqua. "We can't stay here much longer."

Grin quietly stole across the hall, watching out for anything that might resemble danger. Her name bounced around happily above her, and she glared up at it, dropping against a black wall in an attempt to blend in. She heard voices coming from the News section, and ducked behind a door. Listening carefully, she was able to distinguish in the voices the subtly evil tone that could only belong to Minions.

An evil grin spread across her face, and she slipped inside. "Did I miss the party?"

Amy opened her mouth with a wide smile, but Grin stopped her with a finger. "Don't! If you try, I'll rant about this season of Doctor Who. And don't think I'll spare you the yelling. I'm talking about all-caps here."

Amy glared. "I was going to say," she said pointedly, "that we're just leaving, if you're joining us. There's only one exit left for us."

"Sure you were," Grin muttered. She turned to Lauren and Sock. "Where are we going?"

"This way," Lauren said, and stepped out of the room, quickly taking a right turn.

"Wait!" Sock called in a lowered voice. "Someone's coming."

They all fell silent. Sure enough, footsteps were headed towards them.

"Elephant," Grin said, and they all quickly inserted dancing elephants into the doorway, before making their escape.

Gladius paused halfway down the corridor. For the past half an hour, she had been methodically sneaking through the halls in a combined perimeter check/clearing sweep, checking every Forum she came to before moving on to the next courtyard. Everywhere she went, there was almost never a sound greater than the nearly non-existent shuffling of her boot-moccassin-ed feet; every room was empty. Occasionally she would hear more Redead-like moaning, but it was always in the distance, and she never came across a sign that gave away their physical presence. Zombies couldn't trash the Fortress the way she had seen it trashed (stories horribly rewritten, threads shredded to pieces...)--obviously some other, greater force was in play here.

Somewhere around the News Forums, though, she paused. Her semi-pointed ears twitched at the sound of faint voices somewhere nearby; her dragon hearing let her hear what they were saying, despite the unusual distance.

"Did I miss the party?" a young teenage girl's voice asked brightly. In a warning tone, underlaid by an always-constant, subtle evil undertone, she added, "Don't! If you try, I'll rant about this season of Doctor Who. And don't think I'll spare you the yelling. I'm talking about all-caps here."

Though puzzled by the odd comment, Gladius nonetheless knew she had hit pay-dirt on what might be going on here. YWSers didn't usually sound like that...

She crept forward with half the speed of her previous pace, ears straining to hear every detail. Her feet made nearly no sound on the smooth marble floor.

"I was going to say that we're just leaving, if you're joining us. There's only one exit left for us," a second voice answered--apparently the one whom the first had interrupted.

"Sure you were," the first voice muttered. Then--"Where are we going?"

"This way!" a third voice replied with the same kind of bright-evil voice as the first. In fact, come to think of it, all three had that evil undertone in their voices...

Gladius instinctively threw herself into a convenient decorative niche in the wall, behind a pedestal with a vase of flowers, as a girl rushed out of the room. Her heart pounded, thinking she had or would shortly be discovered, but the girl had made a right turn and not a left, where Gladius was hiding.

New footsteps echoed through the halls--ringing with that unmistakably hoof-like sound.

A monster? Gladius wondered as a new female voice from inside the News room hissed, "Wait! Someone's coming." Or a friend?

The thought that it could be another shapeshifter crossed her mind, and she almost dismissed it. But when she peered down the hall to see who it was, she was shocked to see a pink unicorn trotting toward the News Forum.

Rosey heard running through the halls. For a moment, she had a sense of panic that either she was about to be caught, or somebody else was. She went human to be as quiet as possible.

The person was calling out. She knew those names. AquaMarine. Lava. Kamas. Rosey.

It took a minute for her to register what those names had in common.

Either it's a trap, or somebody is looking for JMs.

Just in case it was the former, Rosey ducked into the News Room. As the person ran by, she reached out and clamped her hand over the person's mouth. Soon she felt a scream against her hand.

"Quiet," she whispered. "It's Rosey."

Once the member had calmed down, Rosey pulled her hand away from their mouth. It was Loveless.

"What's going on?" she whispered. "Why isn't there anybody here?"

Rosey ran her fingers through her hair. "That's what we're trying to find out." There was no use telling everybody Nate was missing. Not yet, at least.

"Go to the Information Desk Archive, behind the 2006 door, and look for a door marked "Safe Zone." That'll take you out of YWS until we can figure this out." Rosey paused when she heard running footsteps. The voices all sounded slick. She recognized them as the Minions.

The unicorn shapeshifter exhaled. "If you run into anybody in the Minions, or anybody being loud, go to the dead-end hall of Groups and push the light green wall. That'll open another door to the safe zone."

Rosey's hearing picked up more sounds.

"On second thought..." she said, annoyed all her plans were getting undone. "Stick with me."

Loveless nodded and both made their way to the hall. She turned unicorn, to better transport the member and took a few steps.

"Wait, someone's coming," she hissed. She turned back into the room to tell Loveless, "Stay here for a bit."

Rosey stayed quiet and and waited for the footsteps to pass. She cautiously walked out into the hall, towards the News Forums, to make sure the coast was clear. But past her hooves she heard footsteps behind her.

"Rosey?" a quiet voice asked.

Rosey turned human and eyed the girl coming towards her. "Glad?"

The girl's eyes sparked with recognition. Rosey jerked her head towards the News Room. "In here."

*

Note to Minion Fighters, don't forget to post!

"Wait," Aqua said as they walked down the corridor. "Why are we leaving? We've taken over, remember?"

She, Lauren, Grin and Sock stopped in their tracks. "Dang it!" Aqua slapped her forehead. "We're supposed to be chasing people out of here, not running! We're evil, guys. Remember that."

She turned back abruptly and began to walk towards the news room, grabbing Grin by the wrist and pulling her along. "Grab a hand, grab a hand!" she called behind. "We need to stay together; make sure any rogue members aren't still hanging out in the fortress."

Aqua was about to lead them into the News Room when she felt Grin tense beside her. "What is it now?" Aqua asked, slightly exasperated. "If this is a disdainful comment about Moffat you have coming, then hold it, okay!"

"No , it's not that." Grin sniffed again. "I can smell unicorn ..."

"Rosey!" Lauren hissed, and all four members backed away, retreating down another corridor.

Aqua darted into a side-door that was marked with a skull and crossbones. Well, it was nearly a skull and crossbones, except for the fact that the skull was a pig's head. The sign of Snoink's minions.

Once they were all safely in the room, Aqua flopped down on the jet black sofa and breathed out deeply.

"Okay, guys," she said after a pause. "We need to get serious here. It's all very well prancing around and eating - well, trying to eat - muffins," here she broke off and glared at the green space-muffin gadget in her hand, "but we need to get serious. Snoink gave us several charges. And the most important one, the one we haven't really discussed yet, is hiding Nate."

Lette turned slowly and breathed a sigh of relief as she realized it was only a vent. "I'm so special," she muttered to herself.

She wasn't sure what do. She knew something wasn't right with YWS, but she hadn't been active on the site for awhile. Maybe they had quiet days once a month...

She shook her head. This was a website. That made no sense. She decided to check the News section. Maybe she had missed something. Hearing voices and laughter, she smiled. It sounded like a party in the News section!

As she got closer, she realized the voices in the News section didn't sound quite right, but that didn't deter her. In fact, it made her even more curious. She poked her head in.

"Hello?"

Once she, Rosey and Loveless had entered the room, the JM started to close the door behind them. "Wait--" Gladius interjected, "--don't close it. We won't be able to see or hear everything that goes on if we do, leaving us vulnerable to surprise attacks."

Not only that, but Gladius wasn't exactly comfortable with small, enclosed spaces like this tiny room--obviously some kind of storage area. Filing cabinets lined every wall, only making it smaller.

Rosey thought about it a moment, then nodded in agreement and only pushed the door so it was half-open. "Good idea. Now..." She turned fully toward Gladius, hand on hips in a relaxed posture. "Have you seen anything that might tell us what's going on?"

A half-smile pulled at one corner of her lips. "Yeah, I guess," she replied, lifting her hands palms-up in an I-don't-know-for-sure gesture. "It's not much, though. I heard some girls talking in a room just down the hall a few moments ago. Something about leaving and there being only one exit... It's possible one of them was AquaMarine, come to think of it. I recognize her voice from Chat. The one thing common to all of the girls I overheard, though, was an evil undertone. I'm certain normal YWSers don't talk like that."

Rosey frowned, crossing her arms and watching the open doorway with a hint of nervousness. "No, they don't..." She sighed. "This isn't good."

As if to confirm her sentiments, a yelp of surprise echoed a short ways down a nearby corridor. Both she and Rosey realized who it was at the same time.

"Lette!" they both exclaimed. The JM quickly morphed to her unicorn form, and Glad vaulted on as the mare moved through the doorway.

The younger shapeshifter barely managed to snatch Loveless' arm in time to drag her onto the horse with her before Rosey took off toward the Group Conference Areas.

The instant Lette poked her head in the room, she was sorry. There sat several evil minions around a large, round table. They each had their own variation of an evil grin plastered on their face.

The evil minions stopped talking all at once and turned to look at the doe-eyed girl. Lette watched as a look a surprise and confusion clouded their features simultaneously. This look was quickly replaced by malicious grins as they recognized Lette as a minion fighter.

"Awww look! The little minion fighter has come to us. How courteous," AuquaMarine sneered.

Lauren chuckled. "That is sweet, Aqua," she said as swiftly stood up, pushing her chair in.

Lette stared wide-eyed as she and the rest of her evil cohorts advanced upon her. Should she fight them? She was a minion fighter, after all. She wasn't sure, so she did what came natural.

She screamed.