The Hugoverse

[OT] Sunday Free Write [ Link to post .] Previously on Dirge & Dread: Dirge began her search for her own Bard instrument and ran into a Zero with a chip on her shoulder. This week Dread starts her search for her beasts.  *** Dread wandered through the bazaar searching for an animal vendor. She asked at several stalls, but each question was met with a shrug and an offer to sell her something else. After wandering and browsing the market for hours, Dread felt her stomach growl. She changed her questioning to ask about food and a friendly vendor pointed her to a run down hole in the wall named "Immovable".  Dread enjoyed a private smile when she found the establishment. Immovable reminded her of every other disreputable, gang-run, pit of trouble she found in almost every universe. She heard a cheering roar from the people inside and dashed in to investigate the commotion. A giant crowd of patrons surrounded a long, rectangular white surface in the floor of the dine...

[OT] Sunday Free Write [ Link to post .] Dirge stepped into the quaint, bright shop. Her black and orange lolita style skirt disturbed the still air as she crossed the threshold and the resulting breeze encouraged motes of dust to play in the sunbeams. Hundreds of specs flowed through bright yellow light to collect upon the various guitars, lutes, and other stringed instruments that lined the walls. Dirge's eyes eventually roamed to the center of the room and she noticed a large wooden table. It displayed several wind and percussion instruments organized by type. A tall, wispy woman appeared in Dirge's peripheral vision. She approached the raven-haired girl with a friendly smile and a golden halo hovering above her head. The gleaming ring seemed affixed to a specific spot above her messy green bun, its bounce matched every bob of her head as she walked. "Welcome! Can I help you find something?" the woman asked. She stopped at a respectable distance from Dirg...

[OT] Sunday Free Write [ Link to post .] Dread's black helmet dissolved into nothing, then she looked down at the bearded elf with narrowed eyes. He smiled up at her from the team bench beside the derby track. "You know we're Uniques?" Dread asked Jelly_Jim. "You picked the Slime Soul just to hustle? At least it has a use," Dirge added her own question as she handed a gold coin to Jelly_Jim. "It was useful in beating you." The elf's green eyes rolled up and he turned his head away as if he embarrassed himself with the comment. "Wait a minute..." Dirge said then reached for her Node. She pulled the transparent rectangle from the white dock that decorated her wrist; the rainbow in her hair faded to black and her black sailor skirt grew and became her favorite black and orange lolita dress. She made several swipes, then watched the Node intently. After a few seconds her jaw dropped and she looked at Dread. "He cheated....

[OT] Sunday Free Write [ Link to post .] Dread growled in frustration and punched the street as she rose to her feet. She remembered being cut off from her powers the moment searing pain coursed through her knuckles and up to her wrist; the blacktop broke her knuckles. She gritted her teeth and clenched her body to keep the curses in, letting more unintelligible growls. She refused to let the virtual street get the better of her. After standing up she noticed Jelly_Jim standing a few feet in front her staring at something behind her. “This is rather embarrassing. I’ve left a mess of myself,” Jelly_Jim pointed behind Dread. Her head whipped around in time to see a small green blob reaching forward to gain ground with its front half, then catching up with its rear. It inched itself across the starting line like a slug. “Sleepers,” the scoreboard announced. Dread looked ahead of Jelly_Jim, but she did not see any zombies appear. “Goodness, there must be more of me over th...

"Look around your HUD. You're a Beastmaster, so it should be easy to find," Dread heard Dirge's advice through her helmet. She skated as fast as she could to complete her lap and try and push Jelly_Jim across the starting line, even if she did not manage to knock him down. "I have  been," she replied. "Hey, that's new." "What? Did you find it??" Dirge asked eagerly. "No, but some new abilities are available now that weren't before," Dread said. In the back of her mind she heard the constant announcements from the scoreboard. "Sleepers." Every time a zombie crossed the starting line Jelly_Jim earned more zombies. "Oh yeah! Just like he gets a card every time he finishes a lap you get resources too. You probably didn't notice it cause you fell over the line," Dirge giggled. "Cool. I need to slow these zombies down. I have an idea, but first I have to stop him from making more,...

[OT] Sunday Free Write [ Link to post .] Dread reached the Derby track and stepped across the boundary with her right foot. Her black and gold motorcycle boot attracted a stream of nanos from the track like a magnet pulling metal filings. They flowed from the smooth white surface to assemble themselves into a column of wheels along the sole of her boot. She completed the step, then she used her left foot to push herself forward. Once her other boot crossed the boundary it gained its own wheels and she skated to her position at the starting line, next to Jelly_Jim. Dread’s helmet coalesced around her head; it covered her bone-white spiked hair and tiger ears. The front of her helmet displayed a sugar skull logo decorated with golden flowers. “First time. What am I in for?” Dread spoke into her helmet to ask Dirge. The shorter, curly haired girl stood at the sidelines to watch the match. A buzzer sounded from the floating scoreboard in the center of the half-mile, oval shaped ...

[CW] Write a story in which the narrator can only use words the characters have used. Or the converse: The characters can only use words the narrator has used. [ Link to post .] "Threnny!  You know Lauren asked after you jus' the other day. She said to me, 'Vegas, how come Threnny don't visit more often?' "  Vegas said. " Ain't that right, hon? Anyway,  I nodded, cause she was right. Then I told her, 'I don't know hon, my guess is she's too busy having fun.' "  "Come on in to the house girls, but ignore the mess. Just watch your step with the paint cans. We were renovating, but the crew bailed and they haven't replied to any of our e-mails for a while. Vegas said he's gonna give them another week before changing their luck. But you're not here to hear about that. Threnody, please introduce us to your friend," Lauren said. "First of all, I need to tell you guys I changed my name from Threnody to Di...