The Hugoverse

Summonning a supernatural entity and then running before it manifests becomes the new teenager craze. All the cool kids are ding-dong ditching demons. [ Link to post. ] “Boss wants to see you,” Elaine said. Her cheerful voice came through the intercom. Rudy sighed, but did not bother replying. He rolled his chair back and stood from his desk. He grabbed his jet black coat on the way out the door. “Thanks Elaine. Go ahead and take the rest of the day off,” Rudy waved to his secretary as he stepped out into the long corridor. After an hour of walking he reached the boss’ office. He walked in and nodded at Debbie, the chief’s secretary. She smiled. “No rest for the wicked, eh Rudy?” She said. Rudy shrugged in return. “Not when it’s my job,” he said. Debbie waved him in to see the big man. He heard his boss’ deep booming voice as soon as he stepped into the office. “Red! Glad you’re here.” He showed his ivory teeth, and walked over to shake Rudy’s hand. “You promis...

"Oh come on, how was I supposed to know that robbing one bank would lead to all this shit?!" [ Link to post. ] “Was that a skeleton?!” I asked my daughter. We ran through the back alley, away from *her*. “I. Think. So,” she replied between breaths, without turning around. She turned a corner, and I followed. We ran into Alex’s Tattoo Shop and Pizza Parlor. He often tossed us freebies in exchange for letting him practice. “Crystal! Ryan! Great to see you guys. What’s up?” Alex came from around the counter and gave Crystal a hug, then offered me a firm handshake. Alex was a big man with a big dark beard. “We need someplace to hide!” Crystal said. The biker gang that frequented Alex’s stood from their table and walked over when they heard the panic in Crystal’s voice. I held my hand up to stop them. “No. We’re just catching our breath and moving on. I appreciate the help guys, but this is way out of your league.” “DaaaAD!” My daughter glared at me through her glas...

Ballisea is trying to conquer as many Earths as she can. She's a natural born Sun(#46). Here are Ballisea's stories in chronological order. Zero Hero Necro Romancer Flutter Bye Abort, Retry, Fail? Magitech Trash Tourism Picking Sides

Rudy's story in chronological order. Free dinner Timeless Picking Sides

Vegas' story in chronological order. Vegas (first appearance) Vegas Joins the Resistance Party Music Recruitment Lucky Lee The Rundown Soldier of Peace Vegas Destroys a City Getting the Band Back Together

This is where I will start storing information about my Universe to help add some context to my short stories.  Magic: Magic is a natural force present on all Earths, though not all Earths have a population that can tap into it. Once a Soul learns how to tap into magic on one Earth they can tap into the magic from other Earths. Nanos:   Microscopic machines that excel at efficiency. As a result they work together and learn to optimize the tasks they're trained for. On some Earths they allow Zeroes to tap into magic, while on other Earths they evolved to mimic magic.  AlterNet:  A network that allows users from alternate universes to communicate with each other. It is an Earth that is completely dominated by nanos. Earths with the right technology can project their consciousness to that Earth, and the nanos will form an artificial body for their consciousness. This is primarily used for gaming, and has essentially become a giant cross universe M...

You can talk to plants. [ Link to post. ] “Rise and shine!” The familiar wake up call cut through my slumber and my eyes flitted open. “Morning, Glory.” I sat up and turned to the purple flowers sitting on the window sill. The potted morning glory stared out the window at the sun. “Rise and shine!” It repeated. Being able to talk to plants had its benefits, but in general they weren’t very smart. “I’m awake, Glory.” I stood up from my bed, then tickled her soil on my way to the restroom. Her roots detected the vibrations. “Morning!” Glory said. I flipped on the light switch in the restroom, and this woke up Vera, the aloe plant. “I’m thirsty!” “No you’re not, Vera. I watered you last night,” I said to the plant. She continued to nag while I finished up my morning routine. After my teeth felt clean I decided to give her a couple drops of water. I let a partial handful of water drip on Vera’s soil. “I’M DROWNING!” She yelled at me. I chuckled and left the b...

Flash Fiction Challenge! Location: A rooftop | Object: A tin can [ Link to post. ] “Holy hell, I can’t believe you fixed everything ,” Chuck said. He stood on the rooftop and stared out over the bustling city. The people should have been contrite, terrified to leave their homes. Instead the streets were full of people happily going about their business. Traffic flowed like molasses, he heard sirens and horns honking in the distance. “How?” Chuck turned to face the short, rotund, blonde man. Rudy smirked. “I could explain it, but you’re an asshole. So I’ll just say, it’s my job .” Rudy stepped toward Chuck. Chuck still faced out over the city and would not have noticed Rudy stepping forward, had he not accidentally kicked a tin can. The noise caused Chuck to whirl around. “Stay there.” Chuck raised his hand and showed Rudy the number ‘1’ glowing red on his hand. “You’re not taking me back to Hell, I’ve got a new job.” A pitch black portal opened next to Chuck. Rudy stopped ...

You are the hero the kingdom needs, just not the one it wants. You are The Necromancer. [ Link to post. ] “I’ll be back, wait here,” I said to my wife. Her bottom jaw clapped against her upper jaw while she nodded. She still had not learned to talk yet, but she was getting better. I kissed her smooth, ivory forehead and left the house. We lived on the outskirts of town, preferring our space. We’d had one neighbor about a year ago, but he angered the wrong person. Now his house sat empty, I doubt anyone knew he was dead. I walked into town for my monthly supply run and noticed more commotion than usual. I passed a kid putting flyers up, and grabbed one from him to read. It turns out the king sought a hero to defeat a new threat. A powerful sorcerer calling himself the Demon King threatened the land, and the last guy to save the world had not presented himself yet. The king grew desperate advertising for any adventurers to take on the powerful evil. I didn’t think much of it unt...

"Sir, we've discovered time travel, but it seems we have to sacrifice a baby goat every time" [ Link to post. ] "Wait. What? How in the hell did you even figure that out? What the hell is going on down there?" Eric Leeds, the department head stood from his high back leather chair and glared at Jack. The young intern that delivered the report. "I'm going down there!" Eric walked around his large desk and past Jack, without any sort of acknowledgement. Jack caught up to Eric in the elevator and tried to explain the details. "It's not what you think, Sir. I mean, it's not like we've been killing different animals to get something to work." Jack fidgeted while he explained. "Then what? A baby goat just happened to be wandering around the lab, then keeled over and,  poof  portal? I highly doubt that, Jack. " Since you're going down, I need to tell you something," Jack said. He took a deep breath. Mr....

It turns out that every conspiracy theorist is right, each conspiracy theory is true but they all come from a different timeline. [ Link to post. ] “The boss wants to see you,” the secretary, said through the intercom. The gentleman in the office pressed the red button to reply. “On my way,” he said. The clean shaven, portly man pushed his chair back and stood from his desk.  “He only wants to see me when there’s a problem,” he sighed, then gathered his coat from the rack on the way out of his office. “You know how it goes, Elaine. I’m probably out for the rest of the day.” He said to his secretary. “Right. I’ll reschedule your appointments Mr. Deville.” Elaine waved at him as he stepped out into the long cavernous hallway. Fluorescent lights somehow made the hallway drearier. He began the journey to his boss’ office and arrived there an hour later. Debbie, the boss’ secretary, let him in as soon as he arrived. “Good! Glad you made it, Red. We’ve got an enormou...