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TOOTH? You can't HANDLE the TRUTH! The 4th 2000ad Online Short Story Comp.

Started by Kerrin, 29 August, 2009, 07:52:59 PM

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locustsofdeath!

Yeah Van Dom a rocking story.

There was a bit of panic yesterday over the lack of entrants in the comp - but wow you fellows have done well to allay those fears with not only your submissions, but the quality of your submissions! This one is shaping up to be a blast!

strontium_dog_90

Here's my entry - hope the flashback parts of "Oz" and "Origins" count as epics!

Last of the Old Guard


He had done it.
   
The fool had actually done it. Now the Department was up in arms, and there was only one thing to do.
   
Clad in a stolen Judge's uniform, Rico crept out of the Academy, keeping to the shadows, waiting for his chance.
   
It came soon enough.
   
A portly Judge called Hollis was struggling to make his stationary Lawmaster move, not paying full attention to his surroundings. Rico could have just rendered him unconscious – but where was the fun in that?
   
Instead, grinning, he slit the man's throat.
   
It was a good, clean kill. Just the way the fools had taught him and Little Joe.
   
He got the bike moving, soon tearing through the night, doing his best to appear just any other blood-spattered Judge. Given his genetic heritage, it wasn't too difficult.
   
He still couldn't believe that Judd had gone ahead with it. Trying to assassinate the Father of Justice, whilst amusing, was also suicidal. That was why Rico had advised against it.
   
Within moments the clone was at the conspirators' former meeting place, and without turning on the light he said softly, 'Granger?'
   
A weak, old man's cough came in reply.
   
'Come on,' Rico ordered. 'We're leaving.'
   
The man that shuffled forward wasn't much to look at, but he was actually the last surviving old-style police officer. He had been kidnapped on Judd's orders, and the scientist had repeatedly tortured him, displaying him as an example of what man fell to when left to his own devices. The personification of a regime so flawed that it allowed Booth to steal the Presidency and destroy civilisation.
   
Yet, for all his failings, Granger alone knew of Rico's involvement with the conspiracy.

He didn't appear at meetings, instead getting the low-down from Judd afterwards. But Granger had seen him onscreen once, and, having once worked with Fargo, had recognised him as a clone.
   
Which was why Granger had to go.
   
No one must know that the plan to genetically manipulate the citizens, making them easier to control and exploit, was Rico's, not Judd's.
   
He drove them to the nearest Undercity entrance, knowing that the usual guard was off helping quell one of those new 'block wars.' Rico unlocked the gate, pointed to Granger and ordered, 'in.'
   
'But . . .why?'
   
Rico smiled; fooling this guy's addled mine would be easy. And fun. 'We're going on a secret mission. You just need to wait in there, whilst I go and get your uniform.'
   
As he'd known it would, the thought of wearing his old regalia, which Judd had stripped away from him, filled Granger's eyes with pride and hope. Rico saluted him as he stepped inside . . .then the Cadet slammed the door shut on him.
   
Job done, he headed for the Academy.
   
On the other side, Granger thought, as the darkness closed in, he will come back for me.
   
As giant rats circled his frail ankles, he will.
   
As the last of the old guard fell, he will.

Mike Gloady

All brilliant work.  As ever.

Again I am humbled by your creativity fellow boarders.
New in town?  Follow this link for a guide to the Greatest Threads Ever

Van Dom

Here's another one, a frivilous one this time, cos I'm in that kind of mood!
Have a good weekend everyone!

TOP DOG

The Cursed Earth, 2 miles out, daybreak.

Having left three lawmasters at the foot of the Vargulf Hills, two judges made their way along a winding path, following directions given by a tracking device the leading Judge held.

"I don't understand why I'm here, Drake," the senior Judge's female companion voiced, as she scanned the hills for threats. "This is none of my business, surely."

The Judge in front laughed as he paused at a fork in the path and consulted his tracker.

"No, it's not. If it was up to me, you wouldn't be here. But he wanted you to see. Don't ask me why. Maybe he wants to share his little secret with a friend. This way."

Drake pointed left and set off again, his companion close behind.

"How long has this been going on?"

"Oh, many years. Best kept secret in the Department! Only happens on a full moon though, so its only 12 or 13 times a year. Nothing we can't keep a lid on."

"And when it happens, you just...release him? Out here?"

"At his own request, yes. Drop him off and let him roam. He enjoys it. His little way of relieving tension. Does a good job of keeping the scavenger population down too. His hunting trips keep them... Ah, here we are!"

The tracker had started beeping as Drake spoke, now he switched it off and stuffed it into his utility belt. It had led them to a naked male, lying face down at the side of the trail.

Drake took the box his companion had been carrying and placed it on the cracked earth, then kneeled beside the unconscious man and rolled him onto his back.

The female judge gasped as he was revealed to her.

Drake laughed. "Thought you'd like that! Side effect of the lycantrophy, its been like that since his first change." He opened the case and removed a syringe. "Yes indeed, left him quite the impressive trouser-truncheon! And not only that...if you can tear your eyes away..."

Even as he said it she was raising her eyes to look upon the man's face, gasping again at what she found there.

Drake laughed while sticking the needle into the man's arm and injecting its contents.

"Cute, aren't they? Fluffy little wolf ears! He's had them since the first transformation too, they never went back to normal. Go on, give them a scratch! He likes it, he'll stick his legs in the air and pant like..."

Without warning, the naked man's arm shot up to grab at Drake's uniform and pull him down.

"...hel...met..." he growled into the Judge's face, before pushing him away.

"Oh yes, of course, have it right here. Sorry about that..."

Drake hurriedly removed a Judge's helmet from the open case and gingerly placed it on the rising man's head.

"So thats why you never take it off," muttered Beeny, as Dredd clambered groggily to his feet.

"...uniform..." he muttered, wobbling on unsteady legs. Drake was already removing a fresh Judge's uniform from the case.

"What are you staring at Beeny?" Dredd growled, when he noticed how his understudy was watching him. "Never seen a grown man naked after spending the night as a werewolf before? Get that jaw up and look lively! Shift starts in twenty, we've got work to do!"

Beeny shook her head and looked away as Dredd plucked a pair of briefs from Drake and proceeded to pull them on.

"Yes, sir, right away sir. Um...sir?"

"Beeny?"

"Quite the...revelation...you've got there."

"Thought you'd like it."

"So can I get all hip and start calling you Dog now?"

Dredd grunted as he pulled his shorts on and tucked away his truncheon.

"That's fine, Beeny, but better make it Top Dog. After all...

"I'm the one with the biggest bone."
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Kerrin

Haa-ha-ha! Nice one Van, first one was good too.

Great stuff fellas. I like that "stream of consciousness" piece Godders, it took me a couple of restarts to get the pacing right in my mind, but that's just me. And nice to see you back Stront Dog, cool Rico tale.

I will admit to being a bit nervous when the first few days went by with no entries, but I should have known you guys were just marshalling your vast and incalculable intellects... Phew...  :)

Van Dom

Thanks Kerrin, locusts, ozebane, faplad!
Ah Kerrin, we were just trying to make you nervous thats all! We wouldn't let you down! Although I did think this was going to be a difficult topic to pull off, I've been pleasantly surprised by some great tales over the last few days!
Looking forward to yours, Sharks, and locusts now...always must-reads!
Zarjazzer - any inspiration yet?!?
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Zarjazzer

No. My well spring of inspiration is as dry as a bone. Still jolly stories so far. Perhaps inspiration will strike like a big hitty thing, presuming I don' get bann-
The Justice department has a good re-education programme-it's called five to ten in the cubes.

Kerrin

Did you see the addendum Zarjazzer? This from Richard,

QuoteDoes anyone mind if I suggest a more generic topic?

What about a 500 word story about any 2000ad character based on the phrase Secrets and Lies?

And this from me,

QuoteI'd say if people really are befuddled by the Dredd story constriction (and remember, it's not just Dredd epics) then go for the "Secrets and Lies" option, it's all good.

So, if you're running up against a rockcrete wall with the original brief, feel free to tackle the second one old bean.

Zarjazzer

No I hadn't or at least it hadn't fizzled through to what passes for my brain. Thanks Kerrin.
The Justice department has a good re-education programme-it's called five to ten in the cubes.

Zarjazzer

As one of my favourite Dredd stories is Mandroid I used it as a basis. It was hellish to write I seem to have just got writers block for this comp.has lots of info dumps.

Anyway enough of my procrastination! ;D

Borg

"Die!" the voice was flat and emotionless. Doctor Hangstrom Borg watched dumbfounded as the construct aimed a weapons arm at Lassiter, his junior technician. Other Space Corp techs  stumbled out of the way of the advancing, armoured figure. Trooper Smith had been blown to pieces by the Spooks,  the  Space Corps newly encountered foe. Borg was using cutting edge  technology to even humanity's chances against the tentacled horrors.

"Cyborg! Cease and desist!" shouted Borg. As the Space Corp special weapons  designer, he had personally designed the  emergency shutdown codes in the cyborgs brain, which this phrase activated.

The former soldier, half man and half metal, halted immediately. One red, cybernetic  eye glowed balefully.

"Another glitch." began Lassiter, breathing heavily but looking relieved.

"If it was your bungling Lassiter I'll have sent back to Mega City One."  Borg liked to let his staff know where they stood.

That meant far beneath him.

Very far.

The training area was hidden deep inside a restricted part of Earth's biggest spaceport. Even Judges from the mega cities had limited authority here.

"Billions of credits and two years of research and development rest on this projects success." said Borg making sure very technician and scientist heard him.

"I will not allow it to fail-"

The rest of Borg's lecture was drowned out by the sound of gunfire.

The weapon arm of the cyborg flared again and again. Lassiter's body  dissolved into bloody, burning rags before he could even scream. The stink of burned blood and fried human flesh filled the air.

"Die!" continued the cyborg opening fire on  the now running, screaming techs.

"Cyborg, cease and desist!" blubbered Doctor Borg, "Cease and desist!"

The cyborg  kept coming guns blazing.

Several shells punched holes in the ground near to Borg. He saw the barrel of the cyborgs blaster track towards his head.

"Cyborg cease and desist!" he screamed hysterically as the barrel came to a halt  in front of his face.

He squeezed his eyes shut.

Nothing.

Borg cracked open an eye. The gun was still levelled at his head but the cyborg had stopped.  He pulled out every wire he could reach in the cyborgs armoured head. The glowing eye dimmed.

"Computer ! Analysis?" he managed to stammer once he was sure the cyborg was deactivated.

A machine voice came back through his comms link not too dissimilar to that of Trooper Smith.

"0.24% mismatch in the alien and human technology matrix. Resulting in random loss of control."

"Meaning? "

The AI machine spoke again.

"0.24% of subjects will be uncontrollably homicidal. Control phrases will work randomly."

Borg swore.

"Can it be fixed?"

"Capture of further Spook technology may make it possible."


He surveyed the damage. Three technicians dead and several wounded. Still their families  could be bought off or threatened as Space Corp  deemed fit.

"Computer, transfer all files on Project Cyborg to a new designation. Then erase original documents."

"Confirmed. New designation?" prompted the AI.

"Project Mandroid." said Borg.


The Justice department has a good re-education programme-it's called five to ten in the cubes.

The Legendary Shark

#40
Hot Air and Moonbeams. (476w)

Still, I guess Clancy had it comin', he was a wild one, alright. Makes sense he'd be mixed up in something like that, but I don't know how much it matters to us folk.  There's always somebody planning something, most of it's just hot air and moonbeams, but there's always one, isn't there? Have I heard the rumours? Yeah, course I have. Are they true? No idea. Sorry, pal, real news is hard to come by out here. I can't help you.

I met one of  you lot once before. One of you 'Long Walkers.' Weird old bird with a beard. Mad as a bucket of spoons, too.  Bit me on the arm, look.

Anyway, she was going on about how she's got a bad feeling about one of the Megs, I forget which one. Yeah, probably One. It's usually One, ain't it? Anyway, she wants to go home but she's scared they won't have her back, you know? I think they booted her out, or something.  So, I felt sorry for her,  I suppose. I figure, what the Hell? I'll tell her one of my "appropriate stories". I'm a barkeep, it's what I do. Beer and sympathy.

So I tells her about this other judge I seen once, way out west. On his hands and knees, he was, crawlin'. Uniform all in rags, helmet bashed in, roastin' in the sun. Still goin', though, carrying something on his back. Looked like one of those med-boxes the aid-guys sometimes drop on us. I figure he's headed for Mega City Two, but I can see he's going the long way. Now, judges ain't no friends to muties and vice versa, but I'm not a cruel man. So I throws a couple of stones down at him from the ridge to try and drive him the other way. Shouted. Pointed. Didn't make a scrap of difference, he just kept going. I kinda' admired that, you know? That determination. I often wondered if he ever made it.

Then she smiled and she nodded. "He made it," she said, "he made it." Turns out she knew him, see? Small world, I guess. She ordered another drink and left while my back was turned. I was going to say something profound like, "it don't matter if you're wrong so long as you're right," but I suppose she figured it out for herself. Now I often wonder if she ever made it. Don't get much hard news this far out.

Anyway, judge, another drink? Looks like there's a rad-storm blowing in, so you can hunker down in here with the rest of us. I'm sure those Mega City judges know all about this mutie thing, they're not dumb, you know. 'Course you know. In the end, I suppose it don't matter whether they know or not, so long as...

Hey, where'd he go?
[move]~~~^~~~~~~~[/move]




Kerrin

I don't know what you were worried about Zarjazzer. And cheers again Sharky.

I thought I had a good "Sin City" one, but it went nowhere. Back to the drawing board.


Roger Godpleton

I'm going with the Secrets and Lies brief. The public demanded it, so here it is.

BATMAN/JUDGE DREDD VI: SECRETS AND LIES


Guthrie was relaxing with a cool glass of synthi-caff and was reminiscing about the past. Simpler times when  he wasn't a cyborg that could transform into a motorbike. Suddenly a time/space portal opened and Batman was in the room. There would be no reminiscing and no hot synthi-Scotch tonight, apart from the reminiscing and drinking that he had already done.

"Ah stomm, what the drokk do you want Batman?"
"Well first of all I want you to stop with that stupid fake swearing and to say 'fuck' and 'shit' like a normal person. Oh wait, you're not a normal person, you're a robot, and an ugly robot with a faggy mustache at that."
"Fuck you , I'm a shitting cyborg".

Guthrie had won this exchange handily. All of the Judges in Mega-City One suddenly felt a surge of pride as if in support of their cyborgial comrade. Unfortunately, in some cases this distracted some of the Judges who were presently in shootouts and at least three Judges died. But the boost in morale probably lead to at least four extra arrests and/or successfully shot perps so it all evened out in the end.

Batman tried to mask the disappointment and shame in his voice as the conversation between the cyborg who wanted to be a normal human being and the normal human being who probably wouldn't mind being a cyborg all that much continued.

"I need you to keep a secret."
"And what would that be, you fucking turd?"
"Actually now that you've been rude to me I'm not going to tell you the secret, just the lie that I want you to tell. The Joker's real name is Sasha Adair."

And with that, Batman left through a time/space portal.

About a month passed and in this period of time Guthrie was modified further to turn into a Jet. He was also given a barbecue. Suddenly a time/space portal opened and it was The Riddler and The Scarecrow. The Riddler said in a scary voice:

"You, Bike Boy, what is The Joker's real name?"

Guthrie transformed into a Jet.

"Actually, it's JET boy."

He shot dead all of the goons that came through  another time/space portal with his gatling gun, but this was a distraction and The Scarecrow had taken Dan Fransisco hostage.

"Tell us what we want to know and we'll let him go."

Guthrie panicked. "The Joker's real name is Sasha  Adair."

Suddenly another time/space portal opened silently and Batman took out The Scarecrow and Guthrie flew at The Riddler and incapacitated him by head butting him in the balls. "Sasha Adair" had been a signal word that activated Batman's stealth time/space portal. Guthrie had been played by Batman again but Batman had left before listening to his objections.

"I guess this is the consequences of Secrets and Lies", sighed Guthrie and he flew off into the sunset so he could reminisce with Dredd in the Cursed Earth.
He's only trying to be what following how his dreams make you wanna be, man!

ozebane

Just for the hell of it, here's another.

TROGOPOLIS.
478 words.

"Eyes bulging like dead fish. Faces grey... Decaying. They crept out at night to prey on the innocent citizens of Mega-city 1.
Then they disappeared again into the blankness, dragging their victims with them..."
- John Wagner, Prog 36.


With the city shadowed by the infernal force of the Dark Judges, the decomposed rose.

Scuffed and covered in the dust of neglect, a single bowler hat sat upon a burnt out TV.
"Wh-what's this?" stammered Kail, as he entered the living room with a bowl of steamed munce in hand.

"Quiet!" hissed his wife from the kitchen.

"D'ya want Death to hear us?! We'll end up like Macguyver!"

She was, of course, referring to Macguyver block, whose denizens had exploded quite spectacularly last week; blowing out every window in the process. The coppery scent of warmed blood still occasionally wafted out of the still draining block, reminding the still-living that Death was never far.

"Yeah, well. Light's are off, what more d'ya want?" he retorted, reclining in his chair.

"Now, where did this hat come from? You had stinkin' normals 'round?"

Angered by the accusation, Kail's wife poked her head from out of the kitchen.
As quickly as the snap of a finger, a grey and gnarled hand brutally wrenched her head out of view, following it up with a sickening crunch.

Kail tried to leap from his seat, but was stopped by the sinewy hand of a putrescent monster.
With glowing eyes bugging out of its shrinking head, the hellish spectre bent down to retrieve its bowler hat.

"Slow down, hip cat! No cause for alarm."

The surprisingly well dressed ghoul sat down beside Kail, its flayed lips contorting into a smile.

"Just a friendly notice... A reminder, if you will. Mega-City One is pretty much a necropolis these days, and we're just fine with that. 's better than it was, for sure. After all, the sun messes with my complexion something fierce."

Willing his panicking body to calm itself, Kail nodded politely.

"There's just one thing wrong, and that's all this funky new tech. Face changing machines? Sleep machines? Now those're just plain sick! So me and the boy's 'r here to say..."

Heavy bodies shuffled in the blankness, drawing closer. Kail's eyes darted nervously from corner to corner as the floor groaned under the tremendous weight of the zombified gang.

"Today's the dawn of the Trogopolis, and sadly, there's no room for ya."

As the Troggies lurched wildly into view, Kail could do little but scream.
Unluckily for them, his cacophonous wail resonated through the block, quickly reaching the city street below.

Brainwashed by the sisters of death, a nearby street Judge regarded the block with curious eyes.
Enticed by the sounds of bloodshed and with his Lawgiver set to incendiary, the Judge gleefully forced his way into the block with murder on his malevolent mind...

Van Dom

Cooooooooooooooooooool story ozebane!!

Roger - love your deadpan style but......Guthrie becomes a cyborg??!!!!!?!?!?!!??!?!?!?
I haven't got that far in my prog slog yet!!!!! Doh!!!! ;)
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