Young Writers Society

-Wink

"Wait...you're not a girl..." In my haste to knock away the strange man in a suit, Blue-Hair had also been pushed to the ground by one of my back paws. And as I looked over my shoulder to see if Jayson was coming, I had noticed that she was actually a he. A very feminine looking he, but a he never-less.

He had on clothes that looked suspiciously like pajamas, and black tattoos of ocean scenes ran up his green-tinged arms. My mind tried to catalog him into some sort of alien race but, although by earth terms I was an alien, I actually didn't know many races except for Starbeasts. Anyways, ever since Jayson had somehow broken the vortex machine, we had both seen some wacky things that were definitely not from our universe.

Blue-Hair glared at me, and I was jostled back to reality. Suit had gone... where, I didn't know. But I owed an apology to Blue-Hair, both for thinking he was a girl and for knocking him down. I sighed and morphed back to human; my Starbeast form was too large fro the crowded room anyways.

"Hey, sorry." I said to Blue-Hair. "It's a bit small in here for me."

He just stared at me. I sighed and turned, ready to get back to my semi-sane partner.

I was so tired of this.

Oceanus:

The girl giving an apology to me was certainly not a human girl. Seconds before she had been a gigantic cat with wings. Her blond haired companion, on the other hand, was a very human looking boy.
"It's fine." I replied. I kept a wary stance. It was wise to always be prepared, and I wasn't going to allow myself to be knocked to the ground again. I brushed off my pants, keeping my eye on the room around me. "So where are we, anyways? I need to get back to my husband pronto, or he's going to have a heart attack."

-Wink

I was hoping to not get involved in this worlds problems, so attacking someone was definitely not a good idea. Now Blue-Hair was asking me questions, Suit had gone... somewhere, and I felt that I was just going to get deeper and deeper into it now. Sighing I turned around and gave Blue-Hair the best answer I knew.

"We're at the restaurant at the end of the Universes." I grabbed Jayson's arm to steer him away, hopefully to somewhere where he could try to fix the vortex machine, but something Blue-Hair had said stopped me. "Wait... you don't know how you got here?" Something about this situation seemed horribly familiar. Blue-Hair shook his head, looking confused.

"I just sort of showed up here."

Rats.

"My name's Wink," I said, holding out the hand that had been holding Jayson's arm. "This is my slightly sane friend Jayson," Jayson gave a little preoccupied wave, "and we got here only because he broke our machine." Initiate glare at Jayson. He ignored me. "What's your name?" I look back at Blue-Hair.

"Oceanus. If you have a travelling machine, can you get me home? After you fix it I mean."

I nod distractedly, but I wasn't thinking about Oceanus anymore. My mind wandered to a night... with a burning house lighting up the dark, starlit sky...

"Wink?" Jayson nudged me. "Look, if this is the place I think it is, I think I have a pretty good chance of fixing the vortex machine. It won't take very long... I think."

"That's a lot of 'I think's." I sighed. Hopefully it's not what I think it is my rebellious mind thought. I turned back to Oceanus. "Okay, if you help us fix our machine, we'll get you back home."

Oceanus:

I was filled with hope. I had a chance at getting back to Will, and my idiotic genius was all that mattered in my life. I grinned at the thought of seeing the shocked looked on his face when I appeared suddenly out of thin air. Too bad I didn't have one of those camera things that he had told me about.
"So, what exactly do you need me to do?" I asked. I glanced around and saw that the cat and the man in the suit had disappeared. "I admit that my husband is a lot better at technology than I am. Hades, even my brother is better at understanding how things work, and he's been locked up in a castle his entire life."
As Jayson opened his mouth to answer my question, a boy materialized in the air above me and landed on me with a startled yelp.

Wink

Oceanus disappeared with a startled yelp as a guy in black dropped down from thin air. Jayson yelped as a flailing arm hit his arm and sent the vortex machine skidding across the ground. I dropped to the floor, braced myself, and hit the new guy with my feet. One good pound and he rolled off Oceanus with a grunt. I frowned and scrambled back to my feet. "A lot of people seem to like trying to kill you." I said to Oceanus, who was also rolling to his feet. Oceanus looked to the side of me and yelled and, instinctively, I ducked, just in time for the black guys fist to sail over my head. I heard another yell and saw my crazy comrade run up, barreling into Blacky. Blacky twisted, letting Jayson face-plant into the floor."Good grief." I slammed the heel of my right hand into Blacky's unprotected ear and followed with a left hook to the stomach. He doubled over.

"What is your deal?" He hissed, glaring at me with silver eyes. Anger boiling in me, I jumped and kicked him in the head. He crumpled to the floor.

"You know, you still haven't taught me how to fight correctly." Jayson complained, rubbing his tender nose from his place on the floor.

"Maybe you should stop trying to win every fight by barreling into your apponent," I shot back, "they're going to repel you nine times out of ten." He frowned at me crossly.

"Hey, be glad I decide to help you instead of running away."

"Where's the machine?" Oceanus asked. I blinked at him, and then turned back to Jayson.

"Jayson?" I asked him. A look of horror came over his face, and he shot to his feet, looking around desperately.

"It-it was just here..." He whispered, turning around frantically. "I saw it..."

Oceanus groaned. Except it didn't sound like Oceanus. I looked over to see Blacky on his hands and knees, shaking his head slowly. Quickly I knocked him onto his back and pinned him there with one of my feet. I would worry about the vortex machine later. Right now this guy had my undivided attention.

"Okay, I ask, you answer: who are you, where are you from, and do you know where you are?"

Schadel:

First things first: Chi and Claret are missing-Actually, is he the one missing? They're probably still back at the agency, while he's in some place full of strange creatures and violent humans. Exhibit A for the latter is standing right on top of him.
Second: He sucks at fighting. He really needs Chi to teach him how to be a better fighter, in case he ends up in a situation like this again. Which hopefully won't happen again, but with his occupation it's likely that he'll be stuck like this.
"I'm Schadel." He says, squirming underneath his captor's foot. If he was a human, Schadel guesses that the girl would crush his rib cage from how hard she's pressing her foot down into him. Luckily, he's not. Maybe, just maybe, he can use his real form to his advantage. He snaps one of his fingers, and in the place of the bandaged boy is a six foot tall being made of darkness. He stares up at her with two holes where a human's eyes would be. She appears to be startled by his transformation. "I'm the Grim Reaper, and I'm going to reap your soul." Schadel says in the most eerie and ghost-like voice he can. Hopefully that will scare her into getting her foot off of him, and then he can figure out a plan of action from there.

So, this guy is clearly not human.

Oceanus's eyes widen and he backs away from the now shadowy figure trapped under my feet. It's his hesitance that goads me to be braver. Seriously, I was not going to let myself be chilled by some smoke and creepy voices. My throat is tight, but I force a laugh.
"Grim Reaper? As in the human's version of death? No, let's back up here. You have no idea what you're talking about." I had grown in confidence as I talked, but I paused for a second. flashing lights, the dizzying scent of blood foaming through the filters... I shook my head. "Death is sound and light and color. Death is the feel of a bullet in our chest, or a naked blade against your skin. Death is the scent of your friends dying around you." I took my foot off the guys chest, and kicked forcefully against his side. He tumbled away, rolling and trying to get up at the same time. I raised an eyebrow at him. "You are nothing more than a living being, just like me, just like Oceanus over there, just like everyone in this room. If you ever tell me you are some fairytale death creature again... well, let's just say I sure wouldn't like to fall from 20,000 feet up." I felt calm, calm like when I finally knew that my entire home, the starship Blue Stella, was gone, and everyone on it. No one could scare me ever again, not after that. Not after the last three years...
"Now," I said, looking straight into Smokey's eyes, "you didn't answer my questions. And, you know, please don't ask me to repeat them. Jayson does that way too often when I ask him stuff, and I've had a bit of an annoying day."

Schadel:

The girl said, "The humans' version of death." So she's not a human. Schadel realizes. She's also lost people close to her from the way that she's talking.He staggers as he gets to his feet.
"I wouldn't like to fall from that far up, " he says, holding his stomach. That kick was more painful than when Chi stabbed him. "But Death and Grim Reapers are very different things." Schadel meets the girl's gaze, and continues to speak with the same confidence. "Grim Reapers are sound and light and colors that not everyone can see. Grim Reapers are the ones who take a human's soul after they've been fatally shot or had their throats slit. Grim Reapers are the ones who see that survivor as they retrieve the souls and feel sorry for that human who has to live with the guilt of not being to save their loved ones. That's a Grim Reaper."
Schadel snaps his fingers, and he once again takes on the form of the bandaged boy. "I'm a living being, like you said. I eat, I sleep, I laugh, I cry - I'm just like humans and probably whatever you are. Grim Reapers aren't myths. We're real."
The strange, green skinned boy - who at first glance appeared to be a girl - that Schadel had forgotten about while he was talking coughs. "You forget about someone." He says, staring at Schadel.
"Oh. Sorry about that. You weren't stepping on me."
The boy thinks for a moment. "Seems legit. You're forgiven. Just remember that there's a merman standing over here. I'm Oceanus, by the way."
With that sentence, Schadel realizes that he still hasn't answered the girl's questions. She probably knows more about this place than he does. If he wants information, he'll have to cooperate. "I'm Schadel, from Schadel's Necromancy Agency. I solve mysteries and help take care of ghostly problems with my human assistant Proschima Glaven - Chi - and my ghost assistant Claret. I live on the outskirts of Drey, a town on the planet Kiera. I have no idea where I am. You guys?"

"Oh great. Juuuuust great. This is awesome!" I groaned. On one hand, Jayson had gotten us out of a pickle by somewhat fixing the vortex machine. At least it got us out of the way of an exploding volcano. But now it was happening again. I didn't know what it was, just fuzzy memories of confused people, all from different universes and dimensions, somehow shoved into the same place for some unknown reason. Well, maybe I had known the reason, but it was lost now, all fuzz and blankness in my brain.

Speaking of Jayson... I glanced around, hoping to see his confused face and skinny arms holding the vortex machine. Maybe he could make it work again and get us out of here before it completely happened. But my customary glance didn't pick up his blonde shock of hair or pale face.

Rats.

I cross my arms and glare at Oceanus and Schadel. Huh. A merman and a 'grim reaper', which I hadn't heard of before. If Jayson was still in the proximity, he would be scribbling in his book to get the details of the new alien down. "Well," I said, "I know where we are, the Restaurant at the End of the Universes, but other than that I know next to nothing about why we're all here." I left out that it had happened to me before. That would just confuse them. Good grief, it even confused me! "I do have a machine that can [hopefully] get us out of here and back to our own dimensions and whatever, but it isn't always... efficacious."

"Wait," Oceanus jumps in, "You're saying that you have a machine that can get us back to our homes, but it isn't always efficacious?! What are you, a walking dictionary?"

I sighed. "It means able to get a desirable result. The vortex machine, ever since my crazy associate Jayson started it up, has never been entirely predictable. It got worse when we accidentally... erm, broke it... long story."

Both of them frown, but Schadel is the one to speak up, "Where is Jayson? I'm assuming he's that boy who ran into me?"

I nod. "He's currently gone, as you can see. Blacky here," I gesture to Schadel, using my nickname for him on purpose, "knocked the machine out of Jayson's hand, so Jayson is probably around here somewhere, looking for it. Or maybe he's already found it and was delayed." I had a fleeting punch of worry in my gut for my crazy friend, but I knew that, even though his fighting was atrocious, Jayson could come through anything alive and kicking. Ineffectual kicking, of course, but that doesn't matter.

"So the thing that can get us all back to where we're supposed to be, you lost it?" Oceanus looked at me, tugging on his shirt. I hold my hands up in a peace gesture.

"Hey, it's not lost. Jayson practically has a mental link to that thing, so wherever he is, the machine will be also."

"So we have to find the boy." Schadel says.

"Thank you!" I turn to Oceanus, hand still held out at Schadel as if to say ta da!. "At least one person in this room has some sense." Oceanus looks hurt, and I immediately feel guilty. Rats, Jayson always said my mouth was like a hyena: whenever I feel trapped, I mock.
"Hey, sorry. When I get stressed I get sarcastic, okay?" I try to smooth it out, but Oceanus still looks a bit peeved. I sigh. Why do people have to have feelings? And whenever you accidentally hurt someone, they hold it against you forever. I spin on my heel and stalk off.
"Come on, let's go find a renegade human."

Jackie ?

I keep my head low, wearing a hat, and lots of concealer. I accidently bump into someone who looks so familiar. I walk as fast as I can.

Schadel:

Finding a renegade human is harder than he expected.
It should be easy to find him. The strange restaurant that's ended up in has a variety of creatures in it. With that in mind, the next logical assumption is that Jayson should be easy to spot. Especially with that blond hair of his. But Jayson somehow manages to blend in with the multitude of beings drinking, eating, and mingling.
He casts a glance around the restaurant once more. There's definitely shifty people - er, creatures - in here. Some look like they are desperate for cash or anything valuable, others look as if they are the richest of the rich. Like that man wearing the black suit who has an incredibly confused expression on his face-
Wait a second. Schadel stares at the man for a good minute before waving his hands frantically, and jumping up and down. "Blanx!" he shouts, an idiotic grin growing when his long time friend notices him.
The girl - who Schadel realizes still hasn't offered her name to him - and Oceanus exchange confused glances at the sight of Blanx. "Who the Underworld is that?" Oceanus impatiently blurts before Schadel can offer an explanation.
"I could ask the same of you," Blanx replies, but there is no threat involved.
"Schadel?" the girl questions. From the tone of her voice, she wants answers. Immediately.
"This is my closest friend, Blanx. He's like an older brother to me. And just like me, he's a Grim Reaper. He's also very powerful." Schadel turns to Blanx. "I'm not sure how, but we ended up in some sort of restaurant." He gestures at Oceanus. "This merman is Oceanus. I don't know this girl's name - she's not human - but her friend Jayson has gone missing with a dimension traveling device that could get us all home-"
Blanx gives a nod to show that he understood, but Schadel doesn't pay attention to that.
"Damn it," Schadel mutters. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!"
"What's wrong?" Oceanus says. Though he doesn't know the reason for Schadel's distress, he's worried as well.
"Let's assume that everyone else here is trapped. Everyone else here wants to leave. Maybe Jayson didn't just wander off. Take a look around yourself." The three comply. "A lot of creatures here look desperate. They don't know how to get back home. But then at least one of them overhears our conversation. Suddenly they have a chance. A way to return. They find Jayson, and therefore find the device. Knowing that Jayson won't let go of the device willingly, they do the next best thing."
"They kill him?!" Oceanus exclaims.
"No. They kidnap him, because chances are they need helping operating that device. And that's only one motive for kidnapping. I'm guessing that you have enemies?"

Jackie ?

Wait . . . Is that . . . Schadel?

"Schadel?"

He spins around, I can see his face clearly. he stares at me, I stare back.

Schadel:

He stares. "Jackie?!" he exclaims. In his excitement, he doesn't even think before embracing her. "It's been ages since I saw you!"
"Another person?!" Oceanus shouts. His cry of shock is ignored as Schadel looks Jackie over. Something is bothering him, but he doesn't know what it is.
He glances at Blanx. The older Grim Reaper looks incredibly troubled. Schadel doesn't know why until he realizes that it has been, in fact, ages since he lost saw Jackie. At least three hundred years since that chance meeting. But she looks as if she's aged, at most, a year or so. Something is wrong. Something is horribly wrong.
"Jackie..." he begins as he pulls away. "How long has it been since I met you?"
"About a year," she quickly replies, confusion apparent on her face. Schadel notices that she's wearing concealer again in an attempt to hide her scars.
"It's been three hundred years for us," Schadel says. "You should be...excuse my bluntness...dead. Dead as a doornail. But you're alive and kicking."
The group falls silent, Oceanus and the girl confused while the remaining three stare at each other as if they had just seen a ghost. "Maybe," Blanx suggests, "time runs differently in our worlds. A year in Jackie's world is most likely a year in ours."
Schadel rubs his forehead. "That makes things difficult," he comments. "Wait a second. Worlds don't have different times. Dimensions do." Schadel grins - now he's gotten it.
He's ready to fill Jackie in on the last three hundred years, and ready to brag about finally getting a human assistant when he remembers the troubling problem involving Jayson's disappearance. He quickly introduces everyone to Jackie and vice versa before repeating his earlier question. "Do you have any enemies?"



You're up, @FallWolf!

Jackie ?


"Dang it's so good to see you, Not to sound awkward, but I kinda missed you, considering the fact that I just recently escaped from Sorros Nolan again, And joker is in arkham."

I embraced him back.

I was about ready to just hit it out on my own. The crowd around us was getting bigger and bigger until it seemed like Schadel was having a family reunion. Or maybe class reunion, since the girl was not Grim Reaper. She didn't look like much of a problem, just another human. I studied the older G.R, Banx; weird hair, black suit, serious, etc. Tall like Schadel.

Slowly I'm pushed to the edge of the small pack, which I don't really mind. I closed my eyes and just stood for a second, thinking. I don't need any of these people. I haven't needed anyone for so long now, I've been wingin' it with Jayson so long... and I had already fought with half of these people, and I would probably fight with more before we ever found Jayson. Slowly, I took another step back, and started to melt in with the alien bustle of the restaurant.

"Wink, where are you going?" Oceanus, it seemed, had also drifted to the fringes. I shrugged, and kept walking, trying to think up a sassy reply. Rats, usually I didn't need to think about being snippish.

"Are you angry about all the people Schadel picked up? It's like he knows half the universe!"

"That would be universes. Which means anything is possible, even, it seems, mermen." I glared at Oceanus, but he didn't seem to perturbed. I kept walking, and he kept coming with me. I rolled my eyes at him. "Look, I've picked up a second shadow." When he didn't turn back, I sighed frustratedly.

So much for finding Jayson on my own.