Writers of mud, unite!

The idea is simple. I shall write the beginning of a story (which will follow shortly) and you have to carry it on. All entries to be posted to me at womu@muddled-times.com (writers of mud unite). The winning entry will appear in the next edition. If the winning entry does not have an ending to it, then we shall keep it going to next issue, so you get to try again! If the entry raps up the story nicely and neatly, then the task will be to write a start yourselves. The judges' decision is final.

To kick things off, I've written something I've always wanted to do with mud, a rather cheesy and show biz start.

"The show must go on ..."

Mortal Madness

"I hate this time of year," Rocko thought to himself getting dressed in his room. Rocko laid the silver shirt out upon the bed as he dried off his hair, and pulled up his pin stripped trousers.
"Every year is the same," he muttered to himself as he slipped on the new pair of shoes he was supplied with. "It's always at a bad time as well" he added talking to himself in the wall mirror, "with the dance coming up and everything, I have to tell them all I'm going on a holiday! Then when I come back act like I don't know a thing".

Rocko checked the clock on the wall; he had five minutes in which to be ready. Slipping on the shirt and checking himself over in the mirror he prepared himself.

"At least the pay is good." he sighed putting the last stand of hair in place. In his mind he could hear them all getting ready up there. Rocko tweaked the collar of his shirt once more and stood ready. A voice echoed his arrival to the crowd, and he vanished.

Karya took her seat at the front next to Foddy. Looking around she could see all the wizards and witches of mud assembling in their designated seating place. Beyond this sat gods, creators, rulers and an entity or two, of all the lands in the known universe, who had managed to get a ticket to this spectacular event.

Turning to Karya, Foddy said, "I hear they've managed to get that Rocko fellow back again this year."
"Yes I hear Umbarag had managed to, persuade him, once more." Karya replied smiling.
"I've also heard," Foddy added, "that one of the creators from 'Astrolite' want to rope him in to do their event!"

Reverence poked his head in-between the two of them and said, "Oh he'd just love to hear that." and the three of them chuckled to themselves. Suddenly the lights died down, and everyone quietened to listen to the voice as it echoed over the speakers.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen, gods and goddesses, creators and rulers of your lands, to the sixth annual mud's game of 'Mortal madness' and here's your host and mine until the close of play, that twister of turns, the man who can, it's Rockooo!!".

Orchestra music started up and the curtains pulled back. Smoked pored from nowhere, and the lights flashed and shone all around, and then appeared Rocko standing at the back of the stage, and the crowd cheered and applauded wildly. He threw his hand out to the side and a microphone suddenly appeared there. Running down the centre of the stage Rocko greeted the audience.

"Thank you, thank you. What time is it?" Rocko taunted the audience.
"Mortal Madness Time!" they cheered back.
"That's right, and for those new to the events this is how the game is played. Two of the immortals from mud, have been nominated by their peers, to battle it out over three, deadly, tasks."

The audience gasped!

"But of course," Rocko added "being a game show the immortals aren't going to risk their lives! No. They risk the lives of the mortals that they are going to take control of!"

Chuckles erupted around the audience.

"So let us start the game off and find out which two immortals from mud, will be fighting for the chance to win our secret star prise tonight!"
"So let the lights go down and the spot light spin ..."
"To find out which immortal has a chance to win!"

The orchestra kicked up once more as a lone spotlight appearing from nowhere searched the crowed and immortals, until finally coming to rest upon 'Reverence'. Everyone burst into a cheer as Reverence made his way to the stage steadily. Rocko forced a grin to his face as Reverence stepped upon the stage and made his way towards him.

"So we meat again." Rocko said nervously.
"I can't believe you're still alive." Reverence replied.
Rocko turned away slightly and added "me either."

The same voice from the start of the show appeared and introduced the wizard.

"Reverence attained wizdom earlier in the year. Rocko has every right to be nervous since, in his hay day, Reverence was quite arguably one of the most talented fighters of all time. Being fresh from the land gives a good advantage, however will his young years be to his disadvantage?"

Rocko chirped up, "So how are you enjoying being a wizard, and was it you who moved that sword away from me last week?"
"It's alright" Reverence replied "miss the risk of being a mortal, but being a wizard has its perks, and I really can't comment on the sword."

A few of the immortals at the front whispered and giggled to each other.

"Well if you'd like to take your seat over on the left, we'll find out who you're up against."

With that Reverence went and sat down in his seat. It was made of black leather with a monitor by the side. There is an identical chair on the right side of the stage for the second contestant, and faces away from the other.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Rocko continued.

"Once again let the spotlight spin ..."
"To see who'll fight Reverence to win!"

Once more the lights went out, as the spotlight circled around the immortals until the second contestant was found.

"Not another one," Rocko muttered as 'Fruitbat' stood up in the spotlight.

The crowd cheered once more as a delighted Fruitbat ran up to the stage and towards Rocko. Rocko held his head in a hand until Fruitbat came up to him, giving him a big pat on the back.

"Alright Rocko!" he said admiring the view of the audience from here.
Rocko looked up with that forced smile once more, "oh just great, yourself?"
"I'm fine" Fruitbat replied excitedly "I've always wanted to be up here!"
"Oh lets just skip the introduction and go straight into it, if you'll go and take your seat, we'll start the games!"

Fruitbat made his way up the stage, admiring the surroundings around him. Giving a quick wave to Reverence, who just looked back plainly, he sat down.

"Now this is how we play 'Mortal Madness'. Three mortals shall be selected at random for each of our two wizards. Each wizard will know only know the three mortals that he has to play with, and for each task, may choose one of them to command. Now the mortals WILL do what they're told, but are restricted by their own abilities and knowledge. Our wizards can instruct the mortals what to do, but not do it for them. The risk therefore is only with the mortals, and occasionally has a side effect of turning the mortal in question insane after being used, thus the name of the game, 'Mortal Madness'. While we watch their progress on the screen ..."

The curtains drew back to revel a huge screen the size of the stage, "the wizards shall be placed in confinement so they do not know who the other wizard is."

Both wizards' seats suddenly became surrounded by a force field, which allowed no sound to enter. It also only allowed people to see in, but does not let the wizard inside to see out. Finally it has a doorway for Rocko to walk through at a later date.

"Each task shall be decided by our magnificent Arch wizard of mud, Umbarag!"

Rocko picked up a pack of cards and made his way into the audience. "Upon these cards are the names of all the personae in the land. I shall now get two immortals to randomly pick each of our contestants mortals. Ahh the lovely Karya, always a pleasure to meet you."

"Stop trying to suck up Rocko," Karya interrupted, "I'm not going to dote you up to warlock, no matter how many black roses you keep sending me."

The crowd laughed as Rocko continued. "I'll start sending violets instead, but for now would you please pick three cards for Reverence to use."

Rock spread the cards out in his hand, and Karya took three of them out. Without looking at them, she handed them back to Rocko, and Rocko gave them to a runner who took them up to Reverence.

"Who shall we go to next then, Agrazag our champion from last year, can you pick three mortals for Fruitbat please."

Agrazag pondered over the cards momentarily, and selected three.
"Has Tsunami made a full recovery yet?" Agrazag asked as Rocko passed the cards to the second runner.
"He's fine now, but he's still keeping clear of those female goblins".

Rocko jumped back up upon the stage. Now for our first task of the games, what is it Umbarag.

The voice came over the speakers once more. "The first task our contestants must guide their chosen mortal through is to go to my secret island and retrieve the Vase of Destiny. The winner will be the one to have their mortal pick up the vase first. For the purpose of the task, charts with the directions to my island have been left in The Land."

"Is there anything else we should know about your island Umbarag?"
"It has quite a few surprises on for our contestants."
"Well our wizards have chosen their mortals, and have been told the task upon their monitors, let the first round begin!"

And now it's up to you to continue the story! Feel free to carry on in the style Rocko created ... or to continue in any style you wish!