Storytelling Competition - (click for the map) | (printer friendly version)
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Week 960 |
| You are on Week 961
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Week 1 |
Every week we will be starting a new Story Telling competition - with great prizes! The current prize is 2000 NP, plus a rare item!!! This is how it works...
We start a story and you have to write the next few paragraphs. We will select the best submissions every day and put it on the site, and then you have to write the next one, all the way until the story finishes. Got it? Well, submit your paragraphs below!
Story Nine Hundred Sixty One Ends Friday, March 22
There are many who heed the call of space exploration, to seek out what lies beyond the stars, to map out the missing pieces of the cartographer's table, to carve a legend in their name; whether it be for glory, wealth, or even just an explorer's heart beating in their chest.
That did not apply to this one particular Grundo.
No, it was just another day for Darzix, a young Green Grundo who had grown up in Virtupets Station, in comfortable times long after Sloth's defeat.
He had a spaceship of his own and a job: to travel to Neopia and obtain supplies for the renowned Grundo Warehouse. It was a very ordinary job.
There were no "space adventures" here-- no Mutant mutinies, no Snailien infestations, no rogue AI takeovers, and he preferred it that way!
Who would want to deal with an adult space fungus, anyway?
He enjoyed his predictability, his routine in both work and life and never understood why anyone would have a burning desire to put themselves in danger for something like "riches" or "glory".
That all said, adventure doesn't necessarily ask for permission before it comes knocking on your airlock door...
Darzix let out a miserable groan as he lifted his head from the control panel of his ship. Flashing red and orange warnings blinked in astoundingly bright lights that caused him to wince.
He rubbed his aching head and thought back to moments before. He gathered that he was knocked briefly unconscious by a sudden, violent jolt on one of his ordinary transport trips.
A violent jolt...
That's right! He had narrowly dodged some space debris flying straight at him, and it clipped one of his thrusters and sent him off course!
He looked back down at the control panel which read.... |
Author: kittyko92
Date: Mar 11th
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LEFT THRUSTER OFFLINE. EMERGENCY SYSTEM ENGAGED.
Phew. It was going to be OK. This is one of the situations they trained for in pilot school, after all. The emergency system would ensure that with the one remaining thruster, the ship could still dock safely in Neopia.
Of course, he would have to sort out repairs once he landed--a deviation to his routine he didn't look forward to--but it still beat floating around aimlessly in space. Darzix believed he could handle a textbook ship failure with aplomb.
Darzix flicked a couple of controls, and the cabin went quiet, the alarms now silenced. With nothing left to do but wait for autopilot to continue their course, he pondered his situation and his pounding headache. What was the source of that debris? Darzix was not in the least bit curious. In fact, he would rather not know. He much preferred focusing on his routine, and not the anomalous events that disrupted it. But his pilot training taught him that he should monitor for other threats to the ship.
There was a first-aid kit on the ship, he recalled. He moved to the back of the ship to take a tonic for his headache, and as he did so, he opened the window shade to observe his surroundings. What he saw he left him speechless...
| Author: spitfyre_momma Date: Mar 12th |
Instead of the familiar expanse of space dotted with distant stars, Darzix saw a series of flashing lights coming from the debris he’d narrowly avoided. The lights pulsed and changed colours, as if they were trying to beckon him to approach. They coaxed him to abandon his job running supplies for the Grundo Warehouse, and explore the debris floating in orbit around Neopia.
But Darzix was a Grundo of habit. One who was content to live out his life following the same routine each week. He wouldn’t be swayed by flashing lights in the galaxy. That would fill what ought to be a mundane life with too much adventure...
The Green Grundo gulped down some of the tonic from his first aid kit to alleviate his headache, and turned to return to the cockpit of his ship. As he made his way through the cargo area, he felt his ship lurch to the side, almost knocking him over. He hurried to the front of the ship and was surprised to see it was slowly moving towards the debris. Lights continued to flicker out in different directions from it. He was also surprised to see that it was not simply mere space debris, but the wreckage of a spacecraft. He was surprised a third time when he looked down at his control panel and saw his autopilot had been overridden.
Instead of the coordinates he had punched in near Neopia Central, was the message, “COME HERE.” Darzix tried to clear the message from the screen multiple times, but it kept popping back up. He even went into the console and turned off the autopilot feature of his ship. He wanted no part in whatever was happening within the wrecked ship, he merely wanted to live his simple life. A new message then popped up on his screen, “HURRY.”
Unable to regain control of his ship, he was no longer able to fly away or signal for help. He sat for a moment contemplating his choices. He could stay in the safety of his ship indefinitely. But for how long, he did not know. “Fine,” he sighed as he grabbed his helmet and made sure to seal it tight against his spacesuit. He exited his ship through the airlock and used the small thrusters on his space suit to guide him to the ruins of the old spacecraft.
As he approached he saw a small airlock open for him to enter. He already regretted leaving his ship, but continued on anyway. Once inside, the door closed behind him and white steam was quickly pumped into the room. His heartbeat quickened as the steam stopped and he heard a loud clunk coming from the door that led into the heart of the ship. As it opened he saw…
| Author: sir_serene Date: Mar 13th |
Darzix felt shock flood his system and the distinct dizzying taste of nausea gnawing at the back of his throat. He.. He was having a very hard time understanding what he was looking at. He could recognize the being as a Neopet, another Grundo in fact but...
The figure grunted slightly as they leaned against the door entrance, seemingly hurt but the way their body seemed to almost pulse and shift made figuring out how nearly impossible. They narrowed their eyes slightly towards Darzix and spoke, voice strained and tight.
"Quit staring."
Darzix felt himself practically jolt at the order from the being of purple mist and neon outlines. This. Was WAY above his pay-grade, but still, he couldn't help but feel obligated to help. They... Needed help right? Darzix swallowed his unease and took some shaky steps towards the fellow Grundo. (He had to remind himself that this was still a Grundo like him but the thought of what lead to their appearance made his stomach turn-) who in turn nodded and limped their way towards the heart of the ship.
As he followed them, he couldn't help but notice cracks in the ship walls around him. Most of them had been welded over but others seemed to be glowing. He found himself instinctively tightening his spacesuit. The odd Grundo limping on ahead of him sighed.
"...I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess, but I've been drifting out here for-... Honestly I don't even know... You're the first person to have passed close enough to contact for help, so I'm thankful you didn't just bypass my override..."
More and more Darzix was starting to regret not doing exactly that. He just hoped that whatever happened here wouldn't leave him glowing like this strange Grundo who hadn't even introduced themself. He couldn't decide if he was bitter about that, or thankful because it meant he didn't have to share his name either. He barely processed the way the oddity's strained voice continued on.
"... Skipping to the point, this ship is beyond repair and I need to get these weapons to the station if we're going to chase back that overgrown green Chia." That last statement caught Darzix off-guard. He blinked as the thoughts and implication churned in his head. Eventually he spoke, not knowing when he had stopped moving and the odd Grundo had looked back at him with confusion.
"... But, wasn't Dr Sloth was defeated years ago?"
The other Grundo paused and raised a eyebrow that glowed like a tube of neon. "Yeah...? But he's back and personally, I don't want to go back to being one of his experiments..."
Darzix... Wasn't sure what to make of this. He had a feeling he should have memorized his history but even still, there... Was no way... This was impossible wasn't it? Either something horrible had happened without his knowledge or this ship... This Grundo... Had been stranded out here alone for years.
Darzix could do nothing but stand there as he took in this information and struggled to figure out what he should do. The stranger practically bristled.
"Come on! Don't just stand there! I need you to help me move these weapons to your ship!"
After a moment of contemplation, Darzix...
| Author: actually_an_octopus Date: Mar 14th |
Put his foot down. If Sloth really was back in action, he needed information before moving forward. Anxiety and confusion welled up inside of him and he couldn’t take it anymore.
“No, I WILL just stand here! I need to know who you are and how you know about Dr. Sloth’s return. I won’t help you until you answer my questions!” the Green Grundo blurted out, leaving an awkward silence in the dilapidated spaceship.
“Well, you don’t have to yell,” the misfit said. “I’m Enar. I used to be a Faerie Grundo. My colour has… changed since Dr. Sloth ran experiments on me. My sparkle turned into a sickening glow, my wings are crippled and twisted, and my body is contorted and weak. I’m sorry. Sometimes I forget that I look like this now…”
“I-I’m sorry,” Darzix said. He felt awful for raising his voice, knowing now what the other Grundo went through. “I’m just a bit baffled by what you’ve said about Dr. Sloth… It’s nice to meet you, Enar. I’m Darzix.”
The pair shook hands.
“It’s incredible to meet you, Darzix. I’m grateful that you answered my message,” Enar said with a crooked smile. “Now, let me inform you about Sloth… Unfortunately, it isn’t good news, but it’s an answer to your questions.”
Enar went on to explain that, before he was an experiment of Dr. Sloth’s, he was one of his most loyal cronies. The previously Faerie Grundo worked himself to the bone, day and night, for the villainous ruler when he was first created. Then, when Dr. Sloth tried to destroy the Grundos of Kreludor, Enar abandoned his leader and fought to stop working for him, but it was no use. Dr. Sloth made Enar into one of his experiments, eventually dumping him on this spacecraft that was meant to self-destruct after its release. Luckily, while the damage was extensive, it did not implode the ship. Enar worked hard to rebuild the communications panel in the ship. He was able to restore both the ability to send local outgoing messages and to connect to Dr. Sloth’s internal messaging system, making him able to see confidential communications. It was through this means that he was able to gather intel on Dr. Sloth’s newest whereabouts.
“So, are we going to move the weapons to your ship or not?” Enar asked after his lengthy explanation.
“Absolutely. Let’s go,” Darzix said, nervously and excitedly agreeing to the most adventurous plan he’s ever participated in…
| Author: i_lovee_icecream Date: Mar 15th |
Darzix grunted loudly as he picked up a stack of final cardboard boxes filled to the brim with various blasters and ammo. "So what did you hear on Sloth's internal communication system that has you so worked up?" The Green Grundo panted, struggling with the weight of his heavy haul.
Enar plucked the top box off Darzix's pile to lighten the load before responding. "It's extremely clever and devious," The mutated Grundo warned grimly with a deep sigh. "I overheard that Sloth is planning to tamper with The Secret Lab Ray. Instead of receiving zaps with exciting colour changes or beneficial Battledome statistics, Neopets will have a higher chance of becoming...well, like me."
Enar's eyes brimmed with tears and his shoulders drooped forlornly as he gestured to his contorted wings and scarred skin. "The worst part is, Sloth is well-positioned to get away with this blame-free. Not every zap will be catastrophic so it won't be overly suspicious. But enough will, allowing Sloth to keep experimenting and building his following for whatever he plans next. The Mad Scientist is the perfect scapegoat. That poor, eccentric Scorchio will get blamed for the strange zaps. It's perfectly believable that he could have broken his Lab Ray while tweaking it. The result will be lots of poor Neopets like me who will then be recruited for who knows what kind of dastardly scheme."
Darzix gulped with concern as he set the weapons down. "That is quite a well-thought out plan," he admitted. "But we're only two Grundos strong. And no offense, but your resources are limited," he added, surveying the eclectic, mismatched weapons they had brought over with skepticism.
Enar was not afraid nor intimidated to agree. "You're right of course," he murmured. "We'll need to get back-up for sure. I hate the thought of Sloth continuing his malicious experiments and I won't let what happened to me happen to others. So we don't just need numbers, we need experience. Someone who has a quick and strategic mindset. Someone who has defeated Sloth before. I think we should go see..."
| Author: therainbowsheep Date: Mar 18th |
What happens next? (write the next paragraph of the story!)
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