City of IF

[Thunderbird]

Alright then, here's the voteoff for the big cheeze! Winner gets a spot on the front page for a time, and their own forum (for which there are no longer any taxes - yay! :P )

So what's your favorite among this list?

City of IF Spotlight Competition
April, 2011

Our contestants are:

Is this me? by PopeAlessandrosXVIII

Rise of the Operatives by Vishal Muralidharan

Legion of Soul Breakers by warriorofdoom

Brandi's Story by crazybookgal


The following Blurbs have been submitted for your perusal. Please make sure you've at least read each one through before casting a vote. Voting will officially end on April 15th.


Is this me? by PopeAlessandrosXVIII
PopeAlessandrosXVIII wrote: The boy, having quietly sat and listened to Tariths words and worries, closes his eyes in thought. 'Tarith is smart. He teaches. He will come. But where? Where can we go? Tarith says we can't go to the one who sent Lassich, but he is the problem, is he not? Knowledge. We must know more. Leave here to learn more.' Suddenly, a shudder runs through his small frame. All thoughts cease, and a darkness overcomes his mind. His hands come up slowly to cradle his head. He can feel Tarith move, but he can't respond. A blinding light burst forth in his mind's eye. Everything he's learned, everything he's used to make himself whole over these past few months race by, causing his head to throb. Trying desperately to grab hold of something, anything, he feels a whine break loose. Then, without warning, it all turns to darkness once again.

A small light appears in the dark of his mind. He watches as it slowly comes forward. When it gets close enough to make out, he realizes it's him. 'Me. But...' He watches as the figure of himself begins moving. He watches it run back and forth with it's arms out as if it's holding something. It kneels, running it's fingers over something the boy can't see. After a time, he understands. The figure is doing all the things Tarith has taught him. Not a moment after coming to this realization, the figure stops. Standing, it moves towards him. Stopping an arms length away, it stares straight into the boy's eyes. Reaching up, his hand hovers over it's shoulder. Cocking his head to one side, he asks aloud in his mind, “Is this me?”

His hand comes down and settles on the glowing figure. After a moment, the being shatters. The boy watches as the fragments of light dance about in the emptiness of his mind. The lights come together under his still outstretched fingers. He can feel it's warmth. As soon as the last bit of light gathers under his hand, he turns it over. There, nestled in his palm, is a bright yellow orb. Pulsating and glowing bright, it feels right. Pulling it in close, it lifts off of his hand. He watches silently as it floats up to his chest. His eyes widen a fraction as it passes through his clothing and flesh. He watches as the once dull gray light he's always seen resting in his torso changes color. The new, lighter shade glistens ever so slightly, flickering ever so softly. He gasps as a new warmth spreads throughout his body. 'Like when Tarith's light comes into me'

The boy lets out a long exhale, his eyes opening, only to snap shut immediately at the overwhelming light of the early morning sun. After the blackness inside his head, the boy takes his time getting used to daylight again. He feels a cool cloth being drawn across his forehead. Cracking open an eye, he focuses on the worried looking face of Tarith hovering over him. Blinking several times, his vision clears, and his eyes adjusts. Tarith Looks up across his body and says, “He's awake!” The boy hears a rough dragging sound and a big scaly head comes into his line of vision. Lifting his hand, he brushes his fingers over a few scales beneath Lassich's head before dropping his hand to his side. With a small heave, he props himself up on to his elbows. “Are you ok? You're not hurt are you? Your injuries must have been worse than I thought. I should have known better!” The boy watches as Tarith continues to berate himself. Blinking slowly, his mouth opens.


Rise of the Operatives by Vishal Muralidharan
Vishal Muralidharan wrote: Joanne sat back in her chair, waiting for Mark. She’d have to tell him about her fainting fit, and they had to figure out how they’d get Joe out of the hospital. Joanne couldn’t help but feel weird. There was something that was bothering her. How would anyone know how it feels to realize that some off your memories were wiped off of your brain? Joanne decided that she’d try to find out what happened to her memory and who had wiped it off. Closing her eyes, she concentrated very hard, and began to see images.

It is a brightly lit room. The room is so bright that your eyes would strain very hard to make anything out. The corners were ‘normally’ lit, and hence you can see the walls, which looked like they were made out of thick sand. A man comes over and slaps your cheek hard. For a second, you can see the man’s face. He has a chiseled nose, a bright red scar just above his left eyebrow, and a mole on his right cheek. Your vision suddenly blurs and gets back to the brightness. A muffled voice speaks… “Give me…………” The rest of the dialogue cannot be heard. The man starts yelling at someone, and in midst of the glare, a large dagger comes slashing down, aimed at your face

Joanne opened her eyes, and realized that she was breathing heavily. She had seen images that had just scared the hell out of her. Joanne tried getting herself to calm down. After her heartbeat returned to a normal speed, she took a swig from the water bottle, before a nurse came forward to speak to her.

“Ma’am?”

“Yeah, what is it?” Joanne enquired, a drop of water trickling down from her lips.

“The patient wants to talk to you ma’am” the nurse said, shifting uncomfortably.

Joanne didn’t bother to ask. Visitors, even family weren’t generally allowed inside the room. Joe must have scared her really bad. Or he might have been really pissing off. Or he’d have flirted.

Standing up, Joanne followed the red haired nurse, all the way into Room 007, where Joe currently lay. Surprisingly, the nurse stopped outside the room and gestured for Joanne to get in. Usually some staff would hang about during a visitor’s session. Especially if the visitor is not supposed to be there. But Joanne wasn’t complaining. Walking down the row of patients, Joanne noticed the woman in the sari looking at her. Turning around, she smiled, but the woman, in response, hid her face and looked away. Joanne was starting to feel really weird now.

Shrugging it all off, she took a few more paces into the room, glancing at each passenger trying to find out where exactly Joe was. They moved him along with other patients already?

As she kept walking, she noticed that almost everyone was a victim of violence. There was a guy with a gash on his throat; another one had half his leg missing. One guy had his leg in bandages. He was the only one who seemed to be in hardly any pain. Joanne noticed a thick scar above his eyes, and quickly moved on.

Is this some sort of place, where they hold injured suspects? Every sort of injury here was bound to raise suspicion of crime. Joanne realized that what she might say to Joe could be monitored, and that she had to be very careful in what she said.

She had almost hit the end of the room when she noticed Joe. He was the farthermost patient from the entrance. She walked over to him, and could see that he was in some pain. As she got within arm’s reach, Joe pulled her close to him and whispered in her ear, “We’ve got a problem”.


Legion of Soul Breakers by warriorofdoom
warriorofdoom wrote: Kayne was literally pushed into the chopper by the bulkier of the two men, and as Kayne turned around to glare, he was sure he noticed the man smile. Saying nothing, Kayne turned around and looked at where he would stay for his journey. The chopper had plush seats, and was incredibly luxurious for any person. Kayne also noticed that he could barely stand. If he was a bit taller, his head might have hit the top of the chopper, but Kayne didn’t care much. His brain was overloaded with questions.

“Where are we going?” Kayne asked first, just as the two men took control of the chopper. Marshall waited for the take off to be complete before answering the question.

“To Brackly’s Creek” Marshall replied. Kayne had heard about that place. It was supposed to be so beautiful that you would intoxicated by nature’s exotic beauty. It was a small creek situated on Brackly’s hill, surrounded by splendorous green. There were a lot of caves and such which would make the perfect place for any nature lover to stay. It would also be the last place anyone would look in for fugitives, and if you happened to be a nature loving fugitive, the place is heaven.

“Why are we going there?” Kayne asked. He still wanted details about this little journey he was going to take.

Marshall took his eye off the playboy magazine and looked Kayne in the eye, and then replied.

“Because the place is heaven. You’ll love it when we get there. Once we are there….” He paused, checking his watch, “which should be in about three hours, I’ll fill you in on everything I know about you, The Soulbreakers, and about myself. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need some shut-eye” said Marshall, and closed his eyes. The magazine slid down to his hips, and Marshall slipped into sleep.

Kayne looked at the sleeping man, and decided that he needed the rest as well. As he leaned back onto his seat, a familiar sensation bubbled in his stomach.

Brackly’s Creek….not a seriously good place to stay you know..

Kayne jolted up and started his little conversation with the voice.

‘What do you mean? It is supposed to be beautiful!’

A great hiding place for dangerous men…. Like that guy over there. You are getting yourself into trouble.

‘Look. Why are you so interested in him? He seems to be perfectly normal. Wait, what the hell are you doing inside my body anyway?’

He is a very dangerous person. You will not want to stick with him. Escape when you get the chance. What I am doing is helping you, and the world. TRUST ME.

‘That is entirely my decision. I don’t want to run away. I need food and water. You can shut up and let me get the rest I deserve.’

Oh, really?

Kayne felt a sudden surge move up his chest. His chest was getting very heavy, and Kayne could barely breathe. Struggling to even whisper, Kayne frantically began kicking around, making a hell a lot of noise. One of the pilots turned around took a shot from his pistol. The bullet missed Kayne’s head by inches, and slammed itself on the headrest. The feeling of the voice disappeared almost completely. Kayne was too shocked to say anything. He just leaned back once again, and shut his eye.


Brandi's Story by crazybookgal
crazybookgal wrote: A knock at the door interrupted Brandi’s examination of the room. She tripped down the stairs and opened the door. No one was there, but a sticky note was on the door. Peeling it off Brandi read it.

Get out while you can.

Brandi looked up and saw a figure move across the street. Is it the person who left the note? Should she wake up Kara? She’s so tired. Maybe she should go alone, or not at all. Brandi stood there-undecided.

Brandi sprang into action. Scribbling out a quick note for Kara, she hurried after the dark figure.

The breeze was cool on her skin, as Brandi looked around at the shadows dancing around the buildings. The natural spotlight of the moon was the only thing keeping her from tripping every five steps. Sprinting to catch up with the figure that was slowly disappearing into the night, Brandi passed the line of apartments into an open field.

Suddenly the girl felt a sharp pain that left her gasping on her knees. Blood stained the shoulder of her shirt, so Brandi rolled her shirt up to reveal her cuts from Coyote bleeding profusely. At the sight of so much blood, Brandi fell back with nausea. As soon as she scooted back, the pain and bleeding ceased.

By now the mysterious person had vanished. As Brandi sat, something caught her eye. A sign quite like the one at the front of Greensdale, shone in the moonlight. It read CITY LIMITS.

Begin voting at your convenience, but remember to make it count! Let's make it a fair competition and let the best author win :lol: .

[Thunderbird]

We're just about halfway through the polling now. Get your votes in! (only 4 so far?)

[Thunderbird]

We're on the final stretch - and its a lot closer than I'd expected after I looked last. We have just 2 days left to vote!

[PopeAlessandrosXVIII]

Yay! Winning! *Spins* Can't belive it! *Grins* I thank you all for your votes!

[Crunchyfrog]

Congratulations Pope!

Your new forum is ready and waiting for you!

:cheers:

[Lebrenth]

Congrats from me too! I look forward to seeing how you update your forum.

[Tikanni Corazon]

Woo! Congratulations Pope! Very much deserved win! :)

[Vishal Muralidharan]

Looks like I am the first of your "opponents" ;)

Congratulations! It is a fantastic story, though. Have fun with the forum!

[crazybookgal]

Congrats Pope :D

[Crunchyfrog]

....And the Home Page has been updated!

'Is this Me' now has pride of place and is looking great!

Well done Pope. :cool:

[PopeAlessandrosXVIII]

*Dances around* *Bows* I thank you all for your support. I know the thanks is late in coming, but RL hit me hard right afterwards, and I fergot about showing my gratitude. *Bows even lower* Domo arigatou gozaimashita(Most honorable thank-you). I hope to not dissapoint you all with upcoming chappys! *Smiles and waves* Later all!

[warriorofdoom]

Congrats Pope! I know I'm terribly late, but it counts!!!