Young Writers Society

Rydia Reality

Rydia looked down at the handcuffs but didn't let her attention stray to them for long. Instead, she aimed a death-stare at the agent who was processing her and maintained its intensity throughout Griffinkeeper's duration in the room. Only when Griffinkeeper had left did she begin to smile.

"I can't believe you got her," the agent was saying to Timmy who had taken up a position against the wall. "What do you know about that other guy? I mean, how top level is he?"

"Oh, all the way to the top."

The 'camera' was installed now and Rydia asked very calmly: "Where are they holding Nate?"

The two men ignored her. With a flick of her wrist, the handcuffs were off and hanging from her belt. Rydia took out the security guard first, she did a half cartwheel on his desk and kicked him soundly in the side of his head, then landed back down in front of Timmy.

"You know, I really did think you were a nice kid," Rydia said, a little bit sadly. But when Timmy tried to punch her, she punched him back. They grappled for a while, but Rydia was able to restrain Timmy with the handcuffs, which really were a very good gag and so like the real deal that Timmy wasn't immediately aware of how to take them off. This gave Rydia long enough to get the gun from the unconscious security man.

"Where are they holding Nate?" Rydia repeated.

"I don't know, I don't, really I don't! Just don't shoot me!"

Rydia ignored Timmy and turned her head to the computer.

"Well he's a wet blanket, isn't he?" The computer spoke in a mechanised voice, but there was definitely a personality behind the words.

"Mac-"

"Well you were having fun, weren't you? You'd not be happy if I cut in too soon and-"

"Mac!"

"Door on the left. Down the hall, third cell on the right."

Rydia nodded and moved over to Timmy. "Get up," she said, holding the gun against his temple. "We're taking a walk."

Delta November X-ray



"I don't quite understand why you're in such a rush, Delta," he said, as a slow smile split his angular face, "after all, we have all the time in the world."

The two guards that stood sentry outside Lestat's office had moved inside, and shut the door firmly behind them. They didn't look at me, simply stared straight ahead. Refusing to be intimidated, I did not shift from my position leaning against the pale silver cabinet. He observed my body language, somewhat reminding me of the Benedict Cumberbatch version of Sherlock Holmes. I hated that series.

"All the time we may have, Lestat, however I am not too enthusiastic about spending eternity in a room with these two sweaty baboons, or a man of mental instability," I replied, feigning coolness. I refused to allow Mordak the satisfaction of my discomfort. He observed my demeanour with a calculating stare, but that was nothing I wasn't used to. "So, have you actually got a reason for bringing me here, or are you just admiring my physique?" I smiled, arrogantly.

Suddenly alarms began blaring, surprising us all. I took advantage of the situation by rushing to the door, but it was locked. A guard tried to grab me, but I dodged quickly below his arms and delivered a weighty blow to his tender parts, bringing him down like tumbling bricks. "Stop right there Delta."

I looked up, and Lestat held a sharp, old-fashioned letter opener in his hand. I found myself, for once, hoping someone from YWS would find me. If they didn't, I was as good as Swiss cheese.

Charles Borkshav/Timmy

Well, things hadn't turned out the way Timmy wanted them to. Rydia, also known as Super Woman, had used something-Karate maybe-to beat him up, which was really embarrassing for him. Then she put some handcuffs on him; cuffs that worked way better than normal cuffs. There were only two things that would get these cuffs off him. Either an act of God or an act of Rydia. He knew for certain that the latter wasn't going to happen, so he hoped for the first.

They were going for a walk... but the question was, a walk to where? She concealed the gun inside her jacket, which he wasn't sure if he was supposed to like or dislike, and then nudged him forward and out the door.

"Lets me some friends, shall we?" She said jokingly, but her expression was grim. "Or rather, lets meet some of your friends."

"Tell them I said hello!" the computerized voice said-its name was Mac? Why was it named after a hamburger? No doubt there was going to be a lawsuit over that one.

"Mac..." Rydia warned. The voice didn't speak again, but Timmy could have sworn that he heard the voice laughing quietly behind them.

"Lets go, Timmy." Rydia nudged him again, this time not as gentle as the first. "I need to find Nate and you're going to help."

Timmy winced as she called him his name. "Don't call me Timmy, please." He held up his bound hands. "You have beaten me up, stolen my pride and now you are going to tell the world my true identity? Spare me that, at least. Please."

"Alright. Fine." She opened the door to the bare room and ushered him out. "So what would you like me to call you, then?"

"Hmmm... Is this a time for new beginnings or do you want to call me what everyone else does here?"

"Just tell me your name."

Timmy sighed. "Alright, fine. My name is Charles Borkshav. I am originally from Russia, but I came here to be an E.V.I.L. agent for a while."

"Charles Borkshav? You're Russian?" Rydia smirked. "Dude, if you are going to try and pull of a phony name, at least try to make it match the country you actually come from. You're American. I can tell from your accent, and you don't look Russian anyway."

Timmy snickered. "Everyone at E.V.I.L. bought it pretty well. I even talk with an accent to make it seem more realistic."

Some agents walked by him as they left the room and Timmy glanced at them, hoping they would notice.

Rydia patted the side of her jacket. "Lets do our best to conceal both the fact that I am here and that you are handcuffed, shall we? Wouldn't want to put some holes in that fancy ceiling, now would we?"

“Stop right there, Delta.”

Lestat, ignoring the honking alarms, advances on the masked man. Delta steps backwards quickly but is stopped by the office doors and Lestat’s letter opener. “Delta, my dear,” Mordak teases. “It is time to be punished for playing both sides, hm?” Emergency lights on the walls paint the room in a deep crimson hue. Red shadows flash across Lestat’s sharp features as he laughs, suddenly noticing the alarms. “Drako!” he barks to the remaining security guard. The knife is still pointed towards the cloaked form of Delta. “Take Delta down to Detainment Floor B as quickly as possible!”

In a swift motion, the guard grabs Delta and demobilizes the masked traitor with a phaser. Lestat jumps over to his desk once Drako roughly lugs Delta away, allowing Lestat time to access the security channels. He opens up his computer to check the source for the alarm, but instead is met with a slightly creepy photograph of a monkey…

The warning systems continue to blare, adding to Mordak’s tiered levels of rage. “Shut up!” he screams to one particular alarm. The unlucky warning system meets its untimely demise after Lestat hurls a random object towards the wall. He then turns his attention back to the computer screen, scanning E.V.I.L.'s databases for signs of hacking. Four letters continue to pop up in his searches: "SPEW." No doubt the tech team is already working to fix the issues.

He curses under his breath while dialing a series of digits into his phone. His secretary picks up quickly. "Yes, sir?"

"Find me a certain phone number in that log of yours," Lestat orders the secretary. He drums his slim fingers along his desk in time with the office alarms.

The woman on the other end of the receiver shuffles a few papers then asks, "Yes, mister Mordak?"

Lestat smirks before kicking his legs up onto the sleek table. "Get me the number of our amico at the CCF. It looks like Griffin has joined the game."

Dante - Reality

Dante lounged in his comfortable computer chair contempting the message on his screen. He twirled a Queen Chess Piece in one hand, as a woman behind him was tied up by his brother who was sitting on his bed.

“Do not interfere with our plans. We are E.V.I.L.”

"What does this have to do with her?" his brother asked.

The woman had come into the house when Dante was alone, and he had barely heard her though his headset as he was playing his recently purcheased game. Final Fantasy 13-2.

"Not entirely sure, but I believe she does know what this about," Dante said as he rose from his comfortable seating. He grabbed a steel baseball bat and walked over to his hog tied attacker, he crouched down beside her and made sure she met his eyes.

"Now let me make it clear, I'm going to remove your gag, the moment you cry out is the moment I'm going to bring this bat down on one of your limbs. It'll probably break something, which is painful. I have no problem in hurting a woman who was probably trying to kill me. Your going to talk and tell me all about what's going on," Dante said waving the bat in front of her to show he wasn't kidding.

Dante reached over and took off the gag and she immediately spat in Dante's face. Dante, slowly, clamly, used the sleeve of shirt to wipe off the spit. He rose to his feet taking the bat in his handsand brought it down on his victims arm, she cries out in pain Dante crouches back down andplaces his fingers on her cheeks pulling her close.

"Now, what's going on, or it's going to be the other arm." he growled at her.

"We're Evil! We will take over YWS!" she cried.

Sighing Dante went back to his computer and knew to get Rydia on the line, sending her a message of what has happened in the last two hours.

This is a poor substitute for a Rydia post, but I will try! Is this what you were talking about, @AfterTheStorm? You can have me change my post or wait a few times before posting it. I am cool to ideas.

Charles Borshkav/Timmy

The very first thing that Rydia did was usher him down a hallway. Timmy was tempted to stop and ask her, Hey! Aren’t I supposed to be leading you around? But he kept his mouth shut, and good thing too. Rydia looked to be in a temper A bad temper. An attitude that said that she wasn’t going to take anything from anybody. She meant business.

Timmy let her drag him around, taking him down hallways that obviously weren’t going to house Nate or anyone else. Once or twice, he started to tell her where they were going, but then stopped. Why would he care if they were in the janitor’s rooms?

Finally, Rydia started to understand the layout of E.V.I.L. headquarters, and soon realized that they were just in the wrong place. After all, Nate was on the opposite side of E.V.I.L.

“Where are we?” Rydia demanded.

“You know… If you are going to find Nate, it would be smart to not go in the janitor’s area. After all, he only does that at YWS. Not here.”

“He isn’t our janitor, Charles.” Rydia scowled. “He is the guy who keeps YWS alive.”

“Ahhh,” Timmy smiled. “I see you are using my name incorrectly at last. Well, technically, here it is correct, but elsewhere it’s incorrect. You know how hard it is to have two names?”

“Don’t remind me,” Rydia sighed. “I thought we were past that stupid conversation. Apparantly not.” She patted her jacket, the pistol hitting her hand. “Why don’t you show me where Nate is now? We wouldn’t want to leave a mess for the janitors.”

Timmy rolled his eyes at the janitor reference and ushered her down the hall. And why not show her? Eventually, she would find it anyway. Besides, he believed in self-preservation. He believed it wholeheartedly, in fact. That and common sense hurried his steps.

“You might want to keep both your face and gun hidden as we go by here,” Timmy warned Rydia. “We are coming to Lestat’s office now.” And then he kicked himself mentally. Why had he told her to be careful? That would have been the perfect way to get out of that mess!

But he wasn’t the one who brought the fireball to the party that time. It seemed as though there were already two men fighting around Lestat’s office. Grappling for the upper hand, they both used only their hands. But then Lestat pulled a knife and kicked the other guy away from him.

A guard came and prepared to take the other guy away, who Timmy realized was wearing a black mask and dressed completely in that same color. It was probably because he wanted to keep his identity concealed, like Timmy did.

It was then that Lestat noticed Timmy approaching him. “Timmy, what is going on here?” He gestured to Rydia. “Who is that?”

“Umm….” Timmy started to say, but Rydia bumped him. All of a sudden, he became very aware of the pistol hitting his back. “Just a buddy of mine… She wanted to see E.V.I.L. in person. You know… just for kicks!”

“Her face looks familiar. Too familiar.” Lestat frowned and walked towards Rydia. “I have seen her face before.” A small smile escaped his lips. “I saw her on YWS.” He looked at her. “You’re Rydia, aren’t you? He showed you the way out of your room, didn’t he?”

All of a sudden, he grabbed Timmy by the collar and pulled him closer, wrapping his arms around his neck in a chokehold. “Let’s see what you think of this, eh?” He growled. “Let’s see what you think of me!”

“Hold it!” Rydia barked. Lestat looked up to find her pistol pointed at him. “Back away from Charles. Right. Now.”

“There are only one of you, girl.” Lestat said, obeying the order. “You shoot that gun and you alert E.V.I.L. to your presence. And that isn’t a good idea when you are alone, is it?”

“But she isn’t alone, is she?”

Lestat and Timmy turned around to face the speaker, and stared in shock as all of their YWS prisoners charged towards them, led by AfterTheStorm, Griffinkeeper, a pregnant woman wearing armor like Grif, and Nate himself.

The YWS prisoners had escaped.

Adelaide let the data flow over her, like water in a stream. So much information, so fast! System counter-measures had only just started to take effect, but she had already gotten what she had come for. With Lestat captured; she went about reading through his logs.

Suddenly, a flag activated. Adelaide immediately went to it. A news flash came up. A predator drone bomber had begun acting erratically, and was now heading their way. Adelaide cross-referenced the report and made some hasty calculations.

"Grif, someone knows we are here and we've got five minutes before they level the building. Get out of there now!" Adelaide transmitted.

Delta November X-ray



I walked in complete silence, the hefty guard forcing me forward without any care for my comfort. I tried to start a bit of small talk, but he seemed far from willing, and the tight cuffs that bound my wrist made it difficult to sign to him if he was deaf. Suddenly I heard erratic footsteps in the distance, accompanied by heavy breathing. "Hey, Hugo! You need to get out of here! Lestat's emergency self-destruction run has been activated!"

"How long do we have left?" The brute replied.

"Three minutes, we have to go now!"

"We'll use the exit to the garage, a car should serve perfectly as an escape."

I smiled inwardly, so it had all come down to this, eh? We picked up the pace considerably, and soon I had been bundled into the back of a pitch-black van. The hum of the engine and the slam of the doors signalled to me that we were about to get out of here- thank goodness. The vehicle started to move, throwing me against the back doors with a heavy shunt. The door gave way slightly, and I swear for a second I believed there was a god of some kind- or maybe my luck had changed tides. Either way, the door had come loose, and escape from my captors was within reach.

A couple of times it took me to elbow my way out of the van, but eventually to some avail. The doors burst open to reveal a calm country lane, whizzing past at eight miles per hour. I won't lie; I was far from eager to take that leap, but it was most likely the better of the two options.
With a deep breath and a jump that took all of my willpower, I hurtled out of the automotive, and collided with the rugged concrete, covering my face with my forearms, shielding against most of the damage.

I stood up, shaken greatly by the wounds I had sustained; my mask had been torn in several place, grazing my chin and leaving a straight, bloody cut on my left cheek; my knees were seeping blood and lymph, and my elbows had not held up much better either. Once again, some sort of unexplainable intervention had saved me from any serious breakages or fractures- only my right wrist (which had been broken already) had taken bone damage.
I removed my mask and, which as much mobility as possible with my hands bound, wiped away the blood from my knees and face, turning the relic, a symbol of my time in E.V.I.L., into a desecrated crimson rag. It was a bittersweet feeling, I won't lie- but I knew that this conflict was not over yet. I saw a great, steel shape hurtle towards the HQ at an alarming pace. Amused, I thought to myself: how fitting- sending me off with a fireworks display.

Guinevere Gray|Reality

First thing I do when I turn on my computer is reset my location to an uninhabited island in the middle of the Pacific. No way I'm leading E.V.I.L. to my family. I only wish I had thought to tell the other YWSers before the mods were taken.

I check to be sure my siblings are out of the way-my sister is playing with her cat, my brother on his computer. For a moment I envy their innocence, their lack of involvement in a plot like this, but only for a moment. I chose YWS; I could still walk away like many members are even now, and no one would be the wiser. But I have befriended these strangers, even though I don't know their real names. I am no mod, but I am part of YWS.

That decided, I log on.

Cyberspace
I never use chat-too informal. I head straight to the forums-SD&D-and check my topic. No one thinks of themselves as evil.

Dozens of theories on what their plan might be, but nothing substantiative. I scroll to the bottom, where a final post by a username that is just a random combination of letters says, "You will never figure it out. E.V.I.L. is incomprehensible."

I post, "Friends, gather close. Are there any mods left on YWS? If so, they should be here for this."

A few scattered responses when I refresh the page, but not many. E.V.I.L. is whittling down our numbers far too easily.

"It is time to do what YWSers have always done. Why are we on YWS? We are on YWS because we are writers, and the writer's word is law. Evil sometimes wins in a story, but only if the writer chooses so."

A few minutes later: "What are you suggesting?"

"Write. Write like there is no tomorrow. And make your choice. Will E.V.I.L. win?"

I switch to the short stories, the poetry, the novel chapters, the storybooks that remain and watch in satisfaction as the posts pile up-and the reviews with them, as people run out of points but are desperate to write more.

I add to the thread, "YWS is most powerful on a review day. I believe in the magic of the review. We shall remind E.V.I.L. where our skills lay. I am no mod, but for all intents and purposes, today is a review day."

The username that is only a string of letters returns, posting, "Great. Little kid magic stuff. I am so scared."

"You should be." My goal is to reach the hearts of any in E.V.I.L. who still have doubts. To remind them why they joined YWS. I can only review and post, hoping it does something, anything.

They arrived at E.V.I.L's headquarters just in time.

First, they hotwired a car down the street and sped off. Iggy felt bad about that, but she promised she would return it unscratched. It wasn't a definite promise, but it put her conscious at temporary ease.

Second, Inkpot was a genius. He calmly instructed her down the street and told her where to go until they came to a small, crappy shack with a "No Trespassing" sign. The moderator and her friend quickly jumped out of the car and looked around. Once Iggy confirmed they weren't being followed, she followed Inkpot to the door, where he knocked three times, waited, then knocked five.

The door opened and they were dragged inside abruptly, then the door slammed shut and was bolted in place.

"Inkpot's back!"

"He brought Iggy!"

"Iggy?"

"Iggy!"

The shouts came from all around and a light suddenly flickered on. Spots appeared in her eyes and she blinked for a moment, then regained focus. The room was filled with roughly 10 people, some faces she recognized, some she didn't.

The first person she saw was @Clarity, and she let out a cry as the girls embraced. Then she went around the room, hugging @ariaadams, @Lauren2010, @pervadedbydarkness, and @Blackwood.

Once she could put a username to every face, she stood up on a chair and faced the group. "Inkpot knows the location of the E.V.I.L headquarters."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Lauren cried. "Let's go!"

The group yelled in agreement and Iggy couldn't help but crack a smile. "Yes. Lead the way, Inkpot!"

And so they piled into the van and drove... a mile down the street?!

"You're kidding," Aria grumbled in annoyance.

Iggy rolled her eyes at the irony and simply shoved her friends out of the car. "Everyone armed?"

They all nodded.

Suddenly, an alarm went off and her lips curled into a frown. "Does that mean... they escaped?!" she quickly pulled out her gun and braced herself against the door, desperate to reach her friends.

"Alright. We're busting our way inside."

Rydia

Somehow, even with Macavity's instructions, Rydia got lost. She'd never been much good with directions and she was certain Mac wouldn't let her forget. If she lived to be teased about it.

As Rydia raised her gun to threaten - Lestat? Was he some kind of captain? - she was wondering if killing him was worth dying for. If he was as important as Charles seemed to think - and the way he held himself suggested some level of authority - then perhaps it would be worth bringing all of EVIL down on her.

“There are only one of you, girl.” Lestat said as he moved away from Charles, who didn't even thank her for saving him. “You shoot that gun and you alert E.V.I.L. to your presence. And that isn’t a good idea when you are alone, is it?”

No, it wasn't. But Rydia was going to do it, she was going to pull the trigger when- out of the shadows came her friends.

“But she isn’t alone, is she?”

Rydia wanted to run past the two males to throw herself at her friends. She wanted to check Nate over for injuries, to thank Grif for finding him and getting him out and to squeal very loudly.

What she did was continue to stand and point her gun at Lestat. "Now who's outnumbered?" Rydia asked.

"We've got to move," Grif said. "Quickly." He stepped forward and took Charles by the arm, pushing him ahead of the group and back toward the processing room. Rydia put her gun to Lestat's back.

"Move," she said as the other YWS'ers followed Grif and hurried through the halls. "Move quick or you can stay here and be levelled by your own organisation."

The man called Lestat paled, clearly knowing that EVIL would do it. They couldn't risk losing Nate so they would go to any lengths to keep him from escaping and what did a captain or two matter? It sickened her. That wasn't the way YWS thought, or would ever think. The idea of Nate sacrificing anyone like that was ludicrous.

As they turned a corner, suddenly they ran full whack into- YWS'ers?!

"What are you doing here?" Karina asked.

"There's no time!" Grif insisted. "Come on, come with us-"
"We were rescuing you!"
"How did you get out?"
"Are those new shoes, oh those are so cute!"
"Guys!"

Rydia fired a shot from the pistol into the ceiling in an attempt to regain some order and pushed the huddle on around the final corner and back into the processing room.

"So you made it then?" Mac's voice came lazily from the computer by the web cam. "Or did you? You might want to hurry it up a bit..."

The group didn't have to be told twice. One by one they hurried through the portal and into the cyber world with both of the hostages in tow and the room started to shake and the windows exploded. But one by one they made it through.

On the other side of the web cam, Rydia found herself transformed into a series of pixels complete with pixel gun. She also received a sudden flurry of missed cyber messages ending with an update from Dante. Rydia fired back a quick response to update him on their current situation: