The Rejected Times Co-Operative Writing Contest

[Aggie]

THE STORY (COMPLETED)...

The wind whispered around the trees as the ginger haired girl stepped onto the moist ground of the forest.

The girl thought that tree was odd. Why did it have no memes?

The tree thought the girl was odd. Being an anime girl must be a bizarre lifestyle.

Continuing through the forest, the girl noticed a creek, but that wasn’t what she noticed about it. No, what she noticed was in the bottom of the creek, for the item at the bottom was shining...

Split in Story

Story A

The girl, who, by the way, had raven black hair and a fiery temperament, reached into the stream . . .
The item she pulled out was beautiful, a polished sword of burnished steel. The hilt of the sword said it's name was Arcturus.

“Arcturus, eh?” the girl mused to herself. Something about that name rung a bell. After a minute of thinking, she decided to try and remember later. After all, it was getting late, and she needed to find shelter.

She brushed off and wanted to walk further, when suddenly the sword was very heavy. Even pulling her to the ground.

As the sword touched the ground, it created a portal, pulling her into another dimension. As she got her bearings, she saw she was standing in a ransacked house, with a surprises looking ginger girl standing in front of a weapons rack.

"Quick, get inside. The Jabberwocky is due any minute now." The ginger girl had an air of urgency.
"Pardon me?" The protagonist asked in confusion.
"I'll update you when we get inside, but we need to move. NOW!"

Bewildered, the black-haired girl followed the ginger, taking a knife as she was led to a hatch. As the hatch opened, the ginger jumped down it, followed by the still confuse black-haired girl. The hatch shut behind them, and a light turned on, revealing a cavernous room with food and water. “My name’s Esmerelda,” said the ginger. “Yours?”

"My name is Rowena. Now, tell me, what is going on?!"

"11 years ago, a dark necromancer named Cruella DeVille summoned the dead at the fallen city of Angband, and the world has been plunged into darkness. Most heroes died, and the ones that remained were consistently defeated. But the worst was yet to come. DeVille, despite ruling the world through a haze of terror, wanted more power. So, she summoned an old one, a black skeletal dragon, known only as the Jabberwocky. The only blade that can kill it is Arcturus, but that sword is in the possession of DeVille. Or, should I say, was, as she has joined the pile of bones the Jabberwocky sleeps on. Without that blade, the world is doomed to a hundred millennia of death and destruction."

"Well, fancy that." Rowena pulls out Arcturus. Guess what the name of my sweet magical sword is?
*Arcturus glows softly with an aura of power*

Esmerelda looks at the blade in wonder.
"The prophecy . . . you are the chosen one!"

She closes her eyes, as if in memory.

"Trust the one with raven-esque hair,
The one who'll slay death's stare,
The one with the blade,
Shall surely slay,
The creature from the night that stalks us.

You are the chosen one! Come, quickly, I have someone you need to meet"

Split in Story
Story Aa

Then, from nowhere, a giant eraser from a pencil appears, erasing everything. For Esmeralda, this was the creature. Smart move, she thought, for the monster to strike the protagonist early to win early.

For Rowena, she would’ve regretted thinking that word. Outside, the night would go a bright with an holy light. Either it was that or nuclear fire from the pencil that drew it.

But it had no point. Everything was at the verge of breaking now. And it was all because of one writer deciding to be the jerk and throwing everything off, then the monster thought to himself...

“Hoho, hope this won’t connect timelines!”

As he was thinking, the earth was trembling and tearing apart, become whiter as paper but shiny as a light.

Then the writer realized, he broke the fourth wall!

Perhaps too aggressively and chaotic, he did...

But this isn’t the end of all. The writer had fled the scene, leaving destruction at their wake. The Warrior knows what her duty is, and for the other one...

Rowena was startled by the explosion. She looked up into the sky - and saw that the sky was bleeding red with nuclear hellfire.

How do you fight a God in our world? She though helplessly.

Above the sounds of the deaths of millions, Esmerelda tries to get Rowena's attention -
"Arcturus is the PORTAL SWORD! Use it to get beyond the Fourth Wall and into the realm of the Gods! Only you can save us now! Rewrite history, and save us!"

With a peal of thunder, Rowena tried to concentrate. She had no friggin idea how to operate this sword. So, she waved it around a lot, repeated "Mumbo Jumbo" three times, and BAM! A portal was created to beyond the Fourth Wall.

"What about the Jabberwocky?"
"My guess is it's already dead. The main explosion came from near its den."
"Would you like to come with me? Please?"
"I'm sorry Rowena, my place is here."

And with that, Rowena, unsure of what she'd find on the other side, bedraggled and burned, jumped through the portal . . . right onto Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York City . . .

She was startled by the hubbub of the city, but only momentarily. No-one on the sidewalk even batted an eye . . . they were true New Yorkers.

She repeated the magic words, and the sword lit up; She knew just where she needed to go. She walked along the bustling sidewalk, a penthouse down the road at 725 5th Ave, New York, NY 10022. Who knew what she would find there - but she knew that, whatever it was, there would be a truly epic showdown . . .

As Rowena nears the address, she has a sudden chill. The Final Confrontation is going to happen soon . . .

Little did she know, that was actually the address to Trump Tower! (OOC; Nice touch BTW) As she took the elevator up to the penthouse, what she was not expecting was a semi-beautiful Slovakian with an Eastern European accent.
"So, you found me. I must say, I'm impressed. It was a mistake to write in a blade that can go into our world."
"Fix our world, or I'll kill you, you monster!"
"Oh, you pathetic, poorly written character. Story characters can't leave their stories! You are still in a story, I'm just in here with you."
"What? I don't understand!"
"If you kill me, nothing will change. I'll just write in a duplicate of myself to continue to torment you."
"Nooooo!"
Rowena charges Mrs. Trump, stabbing her through the heart. Just then, the door opens, and Mrs. Trump walks into the room. Rowena looks back at the body, and it's gone.
"Now then, how about I write YOU out of the story."
"Noooooo-"
And Rowena was no more. The world back in the other dimension continued to decay, until the tortured world burned in the eternal flames of a fireplace in Manhattan.

THE END

Story Ab

Rowena follows Esmerelda, through the surrounding fields of decay, to a lonely rock outcropping. Who could it be that Esmerelda is taking her to meet?

Esmerelda leads here to the base of the outcropping, down into the cave. After a few hundred feet, the narrow passageway opened up into a small hall.

"These are the Knights of the Round Table. Or, at least, what's left of them."
There are only 4 knights in the congregation.
"Esmerelda! Who have you brought into our hall?!"
"Hello King Galahad. I have brought the chosen one, the one the prophecy foretold. I have brought the bearer of Arcturus!

“Well then, show us this power!”
“I, er, don’t really know how, is the thing”
“Well then, that isn’t good. A prophecy blade without a trained wielder? Hmm. Well, we’ll have to train you then.”

*a training montage ensues*
3 weeks later
King Galahad calls Rowena into the throne room.
"You are finally ready to face the Jabberwocky, and save our world. You, Rowena, are a strange one. It appears the sword transported you here on its own, to save us. Why, we likely will never know, but rest assured it was a good thing. Once you slay the wicked beast, you can choose to stay, and serve as a Knight of the Roundtable, or go back to your realm. Regardless, I hereby knight you. Stand, Lady Rowena! Stand, and get out of my throne room, since you, my fine friend, have a monster to slay!"

As Rowena leaves the throne room, she has a sudden chill. The Final Confrontation is going to happen soon . . .

Rowena eagerly left the throne room. She used the sword's abilities to teleport herself to the base of the mountain the Jabberwocky called home. She snuck into the den. It was sleeping...
"Die foul beast!" Rowena cried, as she cut right through it's head, with a snicker-snack. Then . .. things began to get weird. A vortex, a black hole of evil, was created. It swiftly sucked every last evil thing in the den into it's maw. The body of the Jabberwocky, and the bodies of it's innumerable victims, gone. Then, it sucked every last trace of the past 11 years of evil from the world. The grass was green again, and everyone rejoiced.

Rowena decided to stay in the dimension she saved, ultimately ruling side by side with King Galahad, as Queen of the Earth. For the next millennium, there was peace and happiness throughout the land.

THE END

Story B

A fox shaped purple gemstone. Oh no! Not again. Grandmother Samsin needed her, again. The nine tails swished indignantly. Being a Kumiho, she had to obey.

Scurrying home, she expected to see a warm glow in the windows and smoke coming out of the chimney, as this was about the time Grandmother set the fireplace alight. Instead, she saw broken windows and smoke coming out of all the wrong places, as well as bloody paw prints leading toward town...

Oh no! My sisters have been captured. They are too young to transform into human form. She dashed inside to see what could be salvaged of her weapons.

Not much of anything, she was afraid, but then, the purple gemstone started tugging at her hand. She let it pull her to a niche in the wall, that, when she put the gemstone in, slid open with a burst of magic energy. Spears, armor, but in the center, a sword with the label Arcturus

The girl reached for the blade. On the hilt there was a fox shaped opening . . . the perfect size for the gemstone. She placed the gem into the slot, and time began to slow . . .

As time stopped entirely, apparitions, as purple as the gemstone appeared. She saw Grandmother making stew, with her sisters sitting at the table. Suddenly, two more kumihos burst in, showing an official-looking piece of paper. The King? Oh, no. No no no no.

The girl looks at the kumihos, and asks them what is going on. . .

The kumihos look at the girl, sizing her up.
"You must come with us. The King needs you!"

"Alright. Just tell me where my family is."

"You are not in a place to bargain. We could kill you in a second."

Just then, Rowena remembers where she heard the name Arcturus before . . .

"You don't have the power you think you have. This is no ordinary sword in my hands - this is Arcturus, the Demon Slayer, and it has the Fox Hyimer, a gemstone cut from pure magic, in it's hilt. Now then. Tell me why I must see your King.

Instantly, the kumihos lose their threatening demeanor, and begin begging for their lives.
"We kidnapped your family. The King of the Kumihos needs human souls for . . . something."
"Something?"
"Look, it's way above our pay grade. Please don't kill us."
"I won't kill you, provided you take me to your King. Well, what are we waiting for?"
The girl gestures with the sword.

Suddenly, time restarted, and the apparitions disappeared. Cow dung.
As she stepped outside, though, there was a set of purple paw prints leading into the forest, the opposite direction of the bloody paw prints...

Using here tracking skills, and with the help of the magic blade, she runs after them. After three days of non stop running, she nears the Kumiho King's ethereal palace where here family, and likely countless others, are being held for a nefarious . . . something.

As the girl stands atop a rock outcropping, looking over the palace, she has a sudden chill. The Final Confrontation is going to happen soon . . .

Using the Demon Blade, she smashed the gates open. She targeted and killed every single attacking Kumiho, until they were all cowering in submittance. From there, she walked into the palace, straight into the throne room.
"Who dares disrupt the doings of the King of the Kumihos?!"
"I do! My name is Rowena, and I am here to save my family."
"Very well. Take them, but do not take anyone else. The are necessary."
"What are you doing with them?!"
"I am bleeding them of their magical power, so I can take over the world! Now, leave me."
"Do you not recognize Arcturus, you senile fool?!"
"Girl, if that was really Arcturus, I'd be dead."
"As you wish."
A bolt of arcane energy shot from the sword, breaking the Kumiho into a trillion atomic shards.
"Now then," Rowena muttered to herself. "Let's free everyone trapped here."
And so she did, and she and her family lived happily ever after.

THE END

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[Aggie]

A huge thanks to Of Altonianic Islands for compiling this.