Young Writers Society

Seltar looks over the rim of his pan galactic gargle blaster admiring his reflection in a large mirror he stole from the emperor of jabcutes bedroom, his tired eyes reflect back as pools of molten gold barely hinting at the menace that lies just behind them, “I have been in this business for too long” he thinks to himself. Just then there is a sharp knock on the door, “come in” seltar says in a smooth voice that whispers the intent of evil, The door opens and seltars guard enters the room “it’s the prisoner sir” the guard rasps “he is making a fuss again” seltar sighs and rises from his seat, this latest prisoner was really being a pain, “what was his name again?” the guard asks, “Jayson” seltar replies with a grim expression “his name is Jayson”

Oceanus:

If there's one thing I'm known for, it's my stubbornness. Actually, sarcasm is pretty high up there as well, but stubbornness is one of my major traits. So I wasn't going to let Wink go off on her own.
That isn't saying that I was all gungho about the search for Jayson. If anything, I was more broody. Because no one here knew me, no one had realized that I was talking half as much as I usually do.
And maybe that was the problem. Wink had Jayson. Schadel had Blanx. Me? I just had myself. I was a one-merman team. I admit it. I was jealous, and I was cursing whatever forces brought me to this place. It wouldn't have been hard to take Will along for the ride. We had been laying right next to each other, for Poseidon's sake!
My imagination started to play tricks on my mind. I began to imagine that Will was going to come bursting out of the crowd and my genius idiot would yell my name, and then I could truly focus on the hunt for Jayson.
When Wink glanced back at me once again, I forced a smile. It was dropped the minute she looked away. I shoved my hands into my pockets - grateful that I was wearing this pair of pajamas. (The other pairs had fake pockets. Why are those even a thing?)
"Wink," I suddenly said, "I think someone is watching us."
You don't grow up as a prince without learning a little bit of alertness. That was how I was able to notice the person who was watching us from underneath the hood to a simple brown cloak. They started to walk over to us.
I tensed up. Wink did as well, obviously prepared to transform into that weird cat creature and fight our suspicious watcher.
And then my stomach grumbled.
I stared down at the misbehaving part of my body, sending it a glare and mentally telling myself that now wasn't the time to be hungry.
"It really is you!" Our watched exclaimed, throwing his arms around me. My eyes widened at the sound of his voice.
"Will?!" I exclaimed. I returned the hug when he nodded and removed his hood. "I don't remember you looking that terrible," I managed to get out, shocked at the circles under his eyes.
My husband stared at me. "You've been a gone a week. Of course I would be like this."
I said the calmest thing that I could think of.
"WHAT THE FREAKING UNDERWORLD! I'VE ONLY BEEN HERE FOR AN HOUR!!!!" As I saw Wink start to slip away, I grabbed the collar of her shirt. "I'm having a midlife crisis right now, Wink. And we still have to find Jayson, so you're not going anywhere."

Jackie


A figure wearing a black mask entered, and pushed his way through.

"Uh oh, guys . . . Can we go now, I have a really bad feeling . . ."

I turned my back, and started to nervously whistle. I felt his presence.

"Go away Maxum."

"What's wrong? Can't even greet a friend the right way?"

" You're not my friend!"

He came closer, and he spun me around, he suddenly wiped my makeup off. For all to see . . .

"Oh come on, it's no that bad . . . I have worse . . ."

Uh oh . . .

First I was only stuck with Oceanus, which was actually sort of nice. But now this Will has shown up and they're chatting away like old friends. Or yelling, depending on how you looked at it.

So apparently people are showing up from different dimensions/universes and from different times. I shifted uncomfortably, but Oceanus still had my shirt in his hands, so I couldn't just slip away. If Jayson were here, he'd know why. Scratch that: if Jason were here, we would be long gone.

"...This is Wink," Oceanus said to Will, finally letting me go so that I could face the new guy properly. "It's a bit of a long story, but we're looking for her friend who has a device that can send us home."

"You still haven't explained why you say it's only been an hour, tops, when it's been a week for me." Will looked surprisingly hollow, the dun cloak swirling around his shoulders to just below his waist. Red eyes, too.

I scowled, crossing my arms. Okay, yeah, I was being sort of whiny, but I had good reason; either Oceanus and Will should stop talking and help, or they should just let me go. But they were just standing there, like they hadn't seen each other in years instead of days.

"Okay, you two catch up and stuff, I'm gonna go find my friend." Jayson would say I was being typical Wink, storming off before I knew the whole story, but I had had it with these people. 'These people' looked at me, and Oceanus reached out to grab me again, but I shoved away. "When I find him we'll come put you back in your universes or whatever, okay? Sayanora."

I ran/bumped-into-a-lot-of-people-while-trying-to-run, scrambling to a red silky-looking wall. There I leaned, furiously trying to figure out how to find one blond kid in the mess of diverse life-forms.

"Hey kid," a gravely voice said. I looked left to see a wrinkly, large man with equally wrinkly clothes staring at me. "You have a way out?" I hesitate, looking at his giant bat-ears.

"Yeah, why? Don't you have like a ship or something?"

He chuckles dryly. "Yeah right! No, I don't. As far as I can tell, no one does in here. This restaurant is a maze apart from this one room, and as far as I can tell, anyone who tries to get out fails. Transporters, particle ghosters, trying to beat the maze, all who tried are either dead or missing."

For some reason I laughed. Maze runner, just like maze runner. I wonder if there's greifer-like things as well. Then; Oh good grief, I have to get out of here before I go completely insane.

But if everyone is trapped here, and have tried transporters, would we even be able to get out with the vortex box? Jayson did say it was broken...

"Sorry, I have to go." I push off from the wall. I need to walk, to move, to think and find a way to get Jayson and I, along with everyone else, out of here.

I don't see the small, dark shadow following me.

Schadel:

Schadel suddenly looks around him and is horrified to realize that Blanx and him are alone.

Especially after his realization moments before. "Blanx," he worriedly asks, "where did everyone go?" He stares up at the older grim reaper, terrified for everyone's lives.

Blanx glances around the room. "Oceanus and that girl went off awhile ago, and I believe I saw a figure with a black mask take Jackie away."

Schadel gulps. He knows that Oceanus and the girl with him can fend for themselves. Jackie, on the other hand, has the unfortunate luck of dealing with people that are much tougher. Like her father.

"What if the guy in the black mask is her father?!" Schadel exclaims.

"He is supposed to be in the asylum, Schadel," Blanx reminds him.

"But that didn't stop him before, right?" Schadel's adrenaline is shooting throughout him, fear gripping his heart. He doesn't want Jackie to die. "Blanx, we have to find her!"

Schadel glances down at himself. His current form wouldn't scare anyone-well, there was the one time with Chi...The point is, Schadel doesn't look the least bit intimidating. Blanx, being the expert on humans, is the best person to ask. "I want to look more scary. That way I can seem less weak in front of whoever took Jackie."

Blanx thinks for a second. Schadel wants to yell at him to hurry up, but knows that will get him nowhere.

"Schadel, you don't need to look scary to help Jackie."

Schadel stares down at his feet. "But how am I supposed to help her, then? I don't have any magic. And if he is the Joker, he knows how weak I am." He's not going to cry. He won't let himself sob at his own weakness. Jackie needs him.

"You're not weak."

Schadel shakes his head.

"Look me in the eye." Schadel reluctantly complies, hoping that Blanx doesn't notice the tears streaming down his face. "You are not weak, Schadel. While I have magic, you have brains. You're smart. You're the owner of Schadel's Necromancy Agency. You're a genius. You don't need to look scary to help her. You can use the intelligence that most don't have."

Schadel wipes his tears with his arm.

His mind begins to race. Was that man truly the Joker? He knows that the Joker usually goes for a flamboyant style, with clown-like makeup, dyed hair, and an ugly suit. A black mask, now that he thinks about it, is far too toned down.

He suddenly snaps his fingers. Now that he's taller, he can see Jackie and the guy with the black mask nearby. He casually walks over to the two in his grim reaper form, Blanx trailing several feet behind him.

The masked man has shown the rest of the restaurant the Jackie's natural face - her scars that usually are hidden underneath layers of makeup.

"Hello," he says, deepening his voice. From the sudden step backwards, the man is startled by Schadel's appearance. He grabs onto Jackie's arm and smiles coldly at the man. "I would like to talk with Jackie again, after you so rudely dragged her away."

Jackie

I was grabbed by the arm, Schadel looked at Sorros in horror. My heart started to beat almost too fast . . .

Schadel:

"I said," Schadel repeats with more force then before when the man doesn't reply, "I would like to talk with Jackie again after you so rudely dragged her away." The cold smile remains as he stares down the masked man.

Will:

"Let me get this straight," he begins, trying to understand everything Oceanus just said. "Multiple universes exist. There's a device that we can use to get back home, but the guy who was holding it and the device itself are gone. And grim reapers are an actual species?"

Oceanus pats him on the back. "Glad you finally got it, my genius idiot, after I said it about five times."

"This is crazy," Will mutters. "I'm dreaming, and I'm going to wake up and be in bed with you-real you, not the guy next to me."

"Why is this crazy?" his husband (dream-husband) asks innocently, staring at him. "You were a human. I asked Poseidon to make you a merman so we could be together underwater, and bam! Suddenly, you can live under the sea." Will already can tell what is going to follow by the grin spreading across Oceanus's face. "Under the sea~ Under the sea-"

Will groans. "You can stop. I get it. I'm not dreaming, because dream you couldn't possibly be that annoying."

Oceanus grins even larger. "Knew you would see sense!" He looks around the crowd. "Hey! Wink! Don't go running off without us!" He grabs Will's arm, and, a second later, they make the plunge into the mass of people.

I hear a shout, one of those repetitive ones that you know you should answer, but you're just too busy. I looked back over my shoulder, noting the brown-ish shadow just at the edge of my vision.

"Wink!" Another shout, and this time I see Oceanus's arm wave above the crowd. I groan, hoping that they won't scare off my shadow. I just needed some time to figure out how to trap it. Her. Him. Whatever. But, looking behind me again, I submit to the fact that Oceanus and Will are going to catch up with me and ultimately ruin my plans.

I've already tried rallying these guys, now it's time to set off on my own.

"Hey, Wink!"

I growl and spin around, finding Oceanus practically on top of me. "Hey, you can't just run off like that." he says, a little breathlessly. I roll my eyes at him.

"Whatever misplaced protective instincts you have, whether it's because I'm a child or just because you're a nice guy, knock it off!" I look around for my shadow, but it's disappeared. Great. I frown at Oceanus, making it sure that he knows my displeasure is because of him. His frown softens, and I feel a little maybe flash of guilt. "Look," I sigh, "I was just about to catch this thing that was following me, and now you guys've come and scared it-him-her away."

"On the contrary," A hand touches my shoulder, and instinct kicks in. Before I even know what I'm doing, I'm standing in a fighting stance with a metal arm dangling from my hand. People and aliens alike drift away from Oceanus, Will, me, and the big honkin' metal robot now missing an arm. A man smiles coldly and pats the confused robot. I blink. Was that guy there before?

"Felix never gets 'caught'." I start, dropping the metal arm. That guy is creepy. Not in a superficial way, more like in the blinks-in-and-out-of-exsistance-disorienting sort of way. The metal arm crawls back to the the robot and a wrinkled little alien scrambles down from the robot's back, carefully ducking around creepy guy, to pick it up. The alien looks like a cross between a person and a pug, with wrinkled little features, a squashed nose, and short brown fur. Creepy man smiles down at it, causing it to shiver and clutch the metal arm harder. "He's a very good little spy, aren't you, Felix? A little timid, maybe, but very, very good at hiding." The creepy man turns to smile at me again. "He can even evade the sharp eyes of a Starbeast, hmm? Now, let me guess. You're Wink, aren't you? The brave little girl who's supposed to save her friend."

Oceanus:

"So you know where Jayson is," I say, trying to sound and look intimidating. It's a bit difficult in my pajamas - alright, incredibly difficult - and my sword would be reassuring backup. Will raises his fists. We both know how useless that is. Will couldn't fight to save his life. I'm the brawn, he's the brain. (That isn't to say I'm stupid, or he keeps his head in a book most of the time - alright, ignore that last bit. He does.)

"So she's a Starbeast?" a voice calls out from nearby. We all turn to see a being of darkness walk over to us, Blanx and the new girl (Jackie, if I had heard Schadel right earlier) following right behind him. "But that's besides the point," Schadel says. "You know where Jayson is. You mentioned that Wink is supposed to save him. Unless, of course, she has other friends. But since only Jayson is here with her..."

Will smiles. It's the smile he gets whenever we're playing chess and he's about to say check mate. "I'm under the belief that you are extremely out numbered. There is only you and your robot, while we have..." He quickly counts our assembled group. "six people all prepared to fight you."

To my surprise, a silver scythe appears in Schadel's hands. It's gigantic. A glance at Blanx, and I see that he's suddenly in possession of an equally large longsword.

"It would probably be a good idea for you to surrender and tell us what you did with Jayson," I finish. "Wouldn't want to start a fight in such a lovely restaurant...Especially since the manager might be nearby, and not take kindly to such a ruckus..." I give him the largest smile I can possibly make.