Mapperdonian Writing Contest I

The Mapperdonian Writing Contest I will be the first monthly edition of the Mapperdonian Writing contest. It's based on Mappervision but then with people writing things.

This edition will be hosted by Neo Prussia.

WE HAVE A WINNER!
Neo Prussia is the winner of Mapperdonian Writing Contest I! See you in Berlin!

Rules

 * You may join as yourself or a writer, from your Mapperdonian Nation.
 * Do not tamper with the works of others if you want to be in the contest.
 * Be creative :)
 * Submit works here

Entries
GLITZ AND GLORY: An Excerpt

Darkness. To many, it was a symbol of the unknown. To Xavier, however, it was quite the opposite. In fact, darkness was all he had ever known. In times of hopelessness, darkness had always been there to help him reach a new day. It did not always work in his favor, however. The darkness had also allowed the bandit to keep his inner fears and emotions bottled up, which prevented him from learning to function in society. As this train wreck of emotions spiraled out of control, feelings of violence arose within him. The darkness had taken full control of Xavier, and he needed to unleash his rage on the owner of this cursed establishment. It was too bad he was such a failure of an assassin.

“At long last,” mumbled Xavier, “I shall complete my task.” Crouching on top of scaffolding near the ceiling, the sneaky bandit prepared to drop a light on Chubba, who was in the middle of hosting a battle. “At long last... victory shall be mine!” With these words, Xavier used a hammer to strike the cord holding the light with all his might. Unfortunately, all his might wasn’t enough. The hammer collided with the cord and bounced back into his face, causing him to lose his balance. He fell to the ground with a yelp, landing right in front of his overweight target. Indignant, Xavier scrambled to his feet and raised the hammer over his head for a direct hit, only to be knocked out by the light whose foundation he had loosened. Barely phased by the fifth murder attempt that week, Chubba simply waited for the failure’s teammates to carry him back to his room.

Several hours went by before Xavier returned to his senses. He sat up in bed, quickly recognizing his location as the red major league room. Then the events that had occurred earlier that day came back to him, and he fell back again. “Why is it that I always come so close to achieving my goals, yet make a fool out of myself in the end?” he muttered, closing his eyes again. All of a sudden, the door to the room slammed open, and in came his energetic boo teammate.

“XAVIER! XAVIER! WAKE UP!” Skelloetta screamed.

“I’m not sleeping. What do you want?” he mumbled, refusing to open his eyes.

“I SAID WAKE UP! WAKE UP, ALREADY!” She began rocking the bed to the point that she accidentally flipped it. Enraged, yet too depressed to get up, Xavier screamed back at her.

“I’M AWAKE! GOD, WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM?”

“Well. I’m just really excited because...” Skelloetta started, proceeding to relocate right next to his ear. “IT’S SNOWING FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS WINTER!”

The sheer intensity of the girl’s shriek caused blood to flow from Xavier’s ears. His head rattled, and he struggled to catch his breath. “Why... would I care... about a little bit of stupid snow?”

“Well, we’re all having fun out there, and we wanted to know if you-”

“Let me stop you there, sweet cheeks. First of all, rolling around in a bunch of solid water in the midst of freezing weather isn’t exactly my idea of ’fun.’ Second of all, I could care less about what all of you think of me. I have a mission, and this mission is all that matters. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get some sleep.” With that, Xavier rolled over so his back was to her.

Usually, the bubbly ghost would just shrug off a remark like this, but this time around she appeared to be genuinely hurt. Xavier, noticing this out of the corner of his eye, felt something odd as well. It was almost as if he felt sorry. His inner darkness, just like with all his other feelings, quickly hid this emotion away. He had no reason to feel bad! After all, he was a mighty king, a master of his craft! Feeling invigorated by his ignorance, he jumped up to his feet, only to slip on a blanket and slam into a window. With a groan, Xavier adjusted his mask and took in the scene that was taking place in Glitzville. Skelloetta wasn’t lying-- there was several feet of snow on the ground, and every other battler was out playing. Their joyfulness was disgusting to him. The lack of cautiousness they practiced could easily lead to someone falling right off the edge of the island.

That’s when it him. A grin spread across Xavier’s masked face, for he had just developed a new plan that was sure to succeed. As he burst out into the hallway, he thought to himself that this would finally be the day that his name would cease to be the butt of mockery among the others; he would at last reign supreme. This work is submitted by the Kanyewestian Empire.

The Girl

Amidst the rubble, the destruction, the reddish smog, stood a girl. There were no accounts of how she was there, what was her reason, but more importantly, who she was at all. Her figure was just there, standing, and as she saw no one else in vision, she began to move away from where she was. Her blonde hair, tainted with the red dust, flied on the air as she was running away, and as her movement stopped, so did it. A voice echoed in her head, “Are you even sure what you are doing?”

“There's nothing I can do, anyway. This place, and the world, is wasted,” the girl responded.

“You can still talk to me, Luna. I'm probably the only one you can talk to now.”

“You are the voice inside my head, would that be any difference from talking to myself?”

“I’m more than that, I'm your other personality,” the voice replied to Luna’s question. “But well, we - I mean you - should find a way out of here. It's not great staying in this forsaken place.”

The figure ran away again. There was no intelligent life in sight, and the collapsed buildings and devastated cities would remind everyone seeing it of a failed civilization, those that built such a great monument of themselves but their legacy was destroyed along with it. The landscape was too much of the same destruction that nowhere is discernible, but she is still running, finding even a slightest glimpse of hope, a smallest sign of anyone alive, or anywhere still functioning. The smog got into her lungs at times, and she coughed badly, yet she still ran, and she didn't stop until her breath was off, when she ended up a few miles away from where she was.

The voice in her mind began to speak again, “There's still nothing worth noting. Everywhere is full of smog and rubble.”

“What an unfortunate situation we have fallen into.” “Have you ever wondered why you are even here, when everything is gone, Luna?”

“I did, Luka. I don't know if I should be thankful for being alive after this whole calamity, or feeling cursed because I have to take all the aftermath into myself.”

The voice - Luka - responded, “Well, it might be a little of both. Who ever knows?”

“Should we just keep going?”

“I don't know. I'm you, and you are me, so whatever you think, it's technically me also.”

“Then let's set off again.”

It wasn't the first time that Luna dealt with situations like it. She has lived like that for days, and somehow miraculously still alive. With no one left around, her 'different personality’ Luka that existed only in her mind was her only companion. There was noone else to talk to, nowhere else to go, and no time left. Her only drinkable water deposit has ran out for almost 40 hours, and with that, the outcome was looking grim for her. Her body was frail and the whole environment around her only made her health getting worse and worse.

But then, she ended up by a hut, which seems to be quite pristine despite all the mess around. She opened the door slowly and softly, whilst looking around for any signs of life.

“Don't you think this is… abnormal?”

“What is?”

“There's a hut in the middle of a calamity and you don't even question where it came from. I mean, I'm you, you should be thinking of that.”

“But there's nowhere else. And I can't keep walking forever.”

“If I was you, I'd be on guard. But wait, I'm you.”

“It's not like we have any other alternative.”

There was only one bed sheet inside the but and a lit candle. Luna, already exhausted from everything that happened before, laid down on the sheet, and fell asleep.

Then, the girl woke up to find herself wasn't in place anymore. Her body was locked inside a dark, cramped space with little light,, her hands were cuffed on the wall behind her, and she had no idea where she was.

“Should’ve never trusted that ‘hut’,” her other personality said.

“I was too exhausted, can't help it. Where was I anyway?”

“I don't know. I'm you, remember? Anyways, I think there's voices nearby. Keep silent. I don't want anyone alive to think of you - and also me - as talking to yourself.”

A few seconds later, footsteps can be heard. A figure walked into wherever she was locked and sit down opposite to her.

“Tell me, what are you doing out the wastelands?” the figure asked.

“Then, answer me, why are you locking me here?”

“We have to preserve any living being out there.”

“I don't believe you. I'll break free, and then, you can't stop me.”

“Try.”

After that, the figure disappeared from her sight.

“We - uh, I mean you - have to escape,” her inside voice Luka called out.

“But how?” Luna responded to the voice. “My hands are cuffed, and there is barely any escape.”

“We’ll find out somehow.” And in such a desperate situation, there was always a silver lining. The bricks - or whatever material it was - from the wall was barely stable, and some of them that had the cuffs on it can be taken down easily. The bars aren't that enduring either; they were bent away easily, and Luna escaped the 'cell’, seeing herself in a small complex built completely from stone, lit with flickering lights. On her barely visible sight, there was a corridor, and she ran along it with the cuffs that were attached to her hands. Then there was someone chasing her from behind.

It was the figure she had met before.

What was ahead of her now was a dead end. There was nothing else but a deep, dark, seemingly bottomless pit. Luna was left with two choices: either fall down to that pit and possibly die; or getting caught by that figure and going through unimaginable stuff and possibly also die.

“This - it's our only way out.”

“Like there is another. Any last words before this… jump?”

Behind her, the figure was coming closer. There was barely anytime left.

“I love you.”

“But you are me.”

“Of course. That's why I love you.”

“I love you too. Now, let's see each other again sometime, shall we, my inner thoughts?”

“Yeah. Now, let's do this.”

With that, Luna closed her eyes and released herself down the pit. This work is submitted by the Valkyrian Confederation.

Preliminary Field Work

Earth 398, Coordinates 55.979905, 37.170774, Trainee Agents Smyths and Corvan

“We weren't supposed to be here any longer than 3 hours maximum. What the hell happened?“

“Slavic communists. We can't open the portal within the presence of underdeveloped indigenous peoples, and if you have forgot, the reason why we're cooped in this barn in the middle of a pristine winter wonderland.“

The heavy snowfall raging outside did not respond to Smyth's sarcasm.

“We have to get out of here.“

“How do we know if they’re still out there?“

“If we don’t, we’ll die of dehydration, starvation, and maybe frostbite.”

“That only applies for you, Smyths. We’ve eliminated the needs for physical sustenance centuries ago in my universe.”

“I’ve read up on your universe. You generate energy via luminosynthesis, I know the whole process. Perhaps you forget this Earth is in a singular, and not a binary system, which means we don’t have round the clock sunlight.”

“Pssh, sunset’s in like, 3 months.”

“You clearly haven’t read up on this Earth. Or the calendar here. Round the clock sunlight isn’t a thing here. The sun sets every 12 hours after it rises, and sunset’s in 2 hours.”

“OK fine. We’ll quietly exit this bunker, and they’ll never know we even came out.”

“Agreed. We’ve exhausted the Agency’s rations, which should have lasted until the emergency portal reintegrated.”

“Hey who was the one who suggested throwing those canned goods and luminorations to that pack of wolves back in Ivanonev?”

“Fine, you’ve made your point Corvan. And it’s not Ivanonev here. They call the city Leningrad.”

“Where are we anyway?”

“Near civilisation. The Log says there’s a large city nearby. “

“What’s it called?”

“Moscow. In this Earth, anyway. You’d better start reading up before theory examinations.”

“This is bringing back some bad memories of that time we had to deal with the other Moscow.”

“That wasn’t Moscow. We were just in the same city. And it was the Slavo-Persians you were dealing with.”

“God those people are abominations. Two races that never should have contacted, much less breed.”

“Yeah well they were a lot closer in that Earth. I mean serio-“

Their conversation was halted by soldiers clad in uniform aiming typical 16th centur- no early 20th century firearms at the men. The resembled the Zurich Bruderschaft of Universe 411, and had the gait of the highly disciplined Shanghai Shogunate of Earth 002. They barked out demands for their identities, allegiance, and what the hell they were doing in the middle of Operation Barbarossa. Translation provided, courtesy of the Log’s auditory extensions.

“Again? Didn’t we clear the Hohenzollern Dynastic gig last month?”

“This isn’t that Earth, if you haven’t noticed. Be thankful we didn’t encounter the Slavic communists from earlier.”

A tall man appearing to be the leader stepped out of the platoon encircling them, inquiring them further. A tag identified him as General Wildner.

“So you speak of an Earth with a Hohenzollern Dynasty? What bullshit.”

In the brief moment of surprise, they forgot the Log translated their Anglo-Swedish back into German.

“My friend Corvan here is a bit disillusioned by the cold winter here. Please forgive his ramblings.”

What Smyths said was half true. Corvan’s people enter a state similar to drunkenness in lack of natural light, which was fading away by the minute.

“Oh no I’m not delusional. These folks, the Hohenzollern peeps, they built their emp-p-p-ire, I think. They wer-“

“Shut up, Corvan,” said Smyths, followed by a discreet kick.

“Don’t stop the man, or suffer the consequences”, said the General, aiming a not-so-discreet pistol at Smyths.

Corvan continued his ramblings, detailing the rise of the Hohenzollern Empire and how they came to rule most of Europe. Further inquiry brought up several other similar Earths, including the Greater Bavarian Syndicate, the Unified Alpian States, the Golden Caliphate of al-Muniq, the Forty-fifth Germanic Republic followed by the Forty-fifth Germanic Empire. Smyths watched, helpless as his partner slipped further into drunken rambling.

Finally, at the point where the sun had disappeared under the horizon and Corvan was muttering gibberish, the General spoke his word.

“These stories are quite entertaining, but these are fairytales, nothing more no?”

“Absolutely sir! He’s just very disillusioned and quite possibly mad.”

“Aye amm nout madd-“

Corvan’s ramblings were silenced by a bullet to the head. Smyths stared in horror. The General told Smyths in a voice as icy as the air around them. “You will take me to these Earths, as so we, the 26th Regiment of the Wehrmacht, may unite the Germans of other Earths.”

“With all due respect I have no idea what your talking ab-“, and Smyths was encouraged by the barrel of the Lugel P08 from which enacted the murder of his friend and partner to stay silent, and nodded obediently. He stood up, looked at his watch, and secretly counted down the seconds to the emergency portal activation window so he could escape this hell while acting unsuspicious as much as possible.

“10…9…8..-“

The countdown was cut short by a swift whack of a rifle butt to Smyth’s head, for they heard his counting amplified by the Log's translation functions. He fell to the snow covered ground, unconscious and bleeding from his temples, while the General obtained the portal activation device. As the portal opened, General Wildner spoke to his men,

“My brothers! We have been given a chance! Our advance is no longer restricted to this pathetic planet. We now are able to conquer many others. The Fuhrer has failed to push our great ideology further, but we do not need him. For us, the 26th Regiment of the Wehrmacht, have begun our journey to accomplish what even Hitler could not do!”

As the portal opened and the soldiers cocked their guns, the General declared with the loudest voice,

“Long live the 1000 Year Reich!” This work is submitted by Neo Prussia.

Gunshots & Goalposts: Derry City - The Team That Left

Established in the year of 1928, the team was accepted into the Irish League, now known as the Danske Bank Premier. The homeground, the Brandywell, would become a huge part of them leaving the league. In 1964-65 campaign, Derry City played against Lyn in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup, they won both legs and proceeded to the next round. They were not allowed to play because of the Derry sectarian moves that appeared in and around the Brandywell. Ultimately the police said that 'It wasn't safe for the opposition fans and team to enter as the trouble around the pitch can cause a breach of the peace.' The main reason was because the club was supported by Irish Nationalists (Catholics) who wanted to unite with Ireland, and the IFA was full of protestants, who wanted a more unionist team. Unsurprisingly, in 1969, the nationalists begun protests outside the Brandywell against the Ulster Police force. Forcing the Ulster Constabulary deemed it unsafe for unionist fans travelling there. When Ballymena United travelled to the Brandywell, they objected to play as the protests outside the stadium begun fighting the police. The away fans were not protected as the police ruthlessly had to use gunshots on the nationalists, some of which got into the stadium, pushed the Ballymena team bus out on to the road and set it on fire. Derry had to play 30 miles away in the unionist town of Coleraine, at the Showgrounds. In 1972 lots of fans boycotted the match for being to far away and because it could cause fights, they requested to return to the Brandywell. They lost their request by losing by 1 seat so they could return. Without a stadium, Derry City left the Irish League forever. Derry played on Saturday morning in the lower leagues at the Brandywell trying to get back into the league with the Brandywell as their homeground. They were turned down everytime because the police were afraid the sectarianism would still disrupt the games. Derry applied to join the reorganised League of Ireland (the league in the Republic of Ireland) in 1985 with the Brandywell as it's home. The move required special dispensation from the IFA and FIFA, but eventually Derry was admitted to the league's new First Division for 1985, joining as semi-professionals. As it's stadium was situated in a huge republican area once known as 'Free Derry', with a history of hatred towards the Ulster Constabulary in the local area. Derry received special permission from UEFA to steward it's own games. The presence of the Royal Ulster Constabulary was regarded as more likely to begin trouble than stop it. In the first game back in the new league and cup, more than 7,000 fans came along to the Brandywell to see them beat Home Farm 3-1 gaining back it's atmosphere as it used to be. The Derry side won the First Division in 1987, gaining promotion to the Premier League. In the 1988-89 season, Jim McLaughin lead the side to the Treble (winning the league cup, FAI cup and the league). Derry City became the first team in history to represent 2 different nations in a UEFA tournament, when the played Benfica in the 1989-90 European Cup first round. Then on, Derry plays in the Irish Premier League up until 2007 when it as restructed, and the club are still playing to this day. This work is submitted by Scotland-Ireland.

The Lion of Rome

Caelium was shuffling through the crowded streets of his home city, packed a ever and even more so packed since the gladiator fight at the colosseum just ended and the spectators, livid with excitement and adrenaline from watching the spectacle, were rushing back to their premises. Caelium, though he would never admit it, had a profound hatred for these fights. He despised its cruel nature, the fact that in his eyes, it was nothing but a money-making scam created to kill slaves and animals alike.

Caelium was in deep trouble with the law, although not at present. No matter what would happen though, he was still in trouble. And in Rome, trouble means either a slow death or a painful death. In either way, it meant death. Why was he in trouble, you are surely asking yourself. Well, Caelium did something no other roman would dare to do; he stole from the emperor, from the empire.

He stole non other than a golden maned lion, which he found lying in a cell underneath the Amphitheatre of Pompeii. Disgusted at the treatment of such creatures, he'd found the lion whilst on a work trip to Pompeii last year to look over repairs being done at the amphitheatre. He'd gone for a break when he escaped down to the cellars and found the cat humped on the ground in a cavern twice as small as him. Caelium couldn't help but take him away, away from the death he would of course face either in the arena or in this cell. Although Caelium was confident that he could bring the animal back to his 2nd floor Insula in the bustling core of Rome, he was not sure how to behave with the lion. Just looking at the beast's sharp teeth was enough to give the roman second thoughts. In addition to this, the walls of his apartment were as thing as a sheet of papyrus and the lion would no doubt have a powerful roar. But Caelium decided to forget how to get the lion back to the capital for the moment and focused on getting the cat out of the cage and get him to somewhere safe where he wasn't condemned to death.

He looked around him... nothing. But then he looked once more and saw a dagger with the titles "SPQR" scratched onto its iron blade. Now all the needed was a piece of meat to use as bait to lure the lion out of the cavern and into the narrow and dark corridor. The dagger also doubled up as a lock pick, which would be useful to unpick the lock separating the lion and his cell from the rest of caves. But what would he use as a tasty treat for the beast? He looked at the hippopotamus in the cage to the left. This was too easy... This work is submitted by Tavakareluu.

City Lights

Rafael had been in love with a girl named Ashley for a while now. Both of them enjoy the quality time they had together, weather it is a school project or a study group. Almost nothing could ever shatter their relationship with each other.

Although both of them are in college, Rafael is still having a hard theme asking Ashley for a date. He is afraid that he might get rejected or possibly being dumped. However, despite all his fears Rafael mustered up the courage and is determined to ask Ashley on a date the next day. Eventually Ashley agreed to have a date, for she thinks that it is appropriate since she knows that both of them are in a Mutual Understanding stage. Both of them agreed to meet in the park this upcoming Saturday.

Eventually Saturday rolled around the corner. Rafael was waiting by the fountain for Ashley, while double checking if he had brought enough money. It was not long when Rafael spotted Ashley, running towards his direction with a smile on her face.

The two of them started their date by strolling around the park. Ashley liked the pond most, so that's where both of them headed. They broke pieces of bread (bought by Rafael a while ago) and threw them at the pond, feeding the carp in the process. This put a smile on Ashley's face, indicating both of them had fun.

They then went to the movie theater, and decided to watch the movie entitled “The Unreachable Flower”, for both of them think that it is ideal for their date. As they watched the movie, Rafael thought of which place to go next. However, as the movie ended, Ashley started crying and headed out of the cinemas. Rafael was shocked and he quickly chased after her, only to lose her more due to the fact that Ashley was an athlete. This didn't stop Rafael though from looking for Ashley, so he searched for Ashley everywhere.

Night eventually caught up to Rafael. He had no luck looking for Ashley, so he decided to head back home instead. He was walking home when he found Ashley sitting on the bench, crying. He rushes to comfort Ashley. He asked Ashley about the reason she immediately left the cinema crying. Ashley knew she couldn't hide it much longer, so she explained everything to Rafael.

Ashley told Rafael that her dad eventually got a job in Japan as a game programmer, and she told Rafael that her flight going to Japan is tomorrow morning. The reason why she accepted the date is to spend one last time with Rafael, for she likes him. Rafael was shocked at first, but eventually he understood the situation and the pain Ashley is gonna feel not seeing Rafael again. He then hugs Ashley, causing Ashley to cry more. She then promises that she will eventually come back someday, but she is unsure when will that day be. Rafael then promises to wait for the day Ashley comes back. Ashley then hugged Rafael, in return Rafael hugs back. The city lights shine brightly under that night in the city of of St. Paul. This work is submitted by Albadonia.