Ellipses
By: Forlay
Prologue
"Gosh darn it! Not again!!!"
Forlay shouted as she read the latest self insertion author fic. Once again,
these psycho authors had taken it into their heads that she and Aniblaire
made a cute couple. "Where do they get this idea?" Suddenly, one of Forlay's
infamous, absolutely insane, story ideas popped into her head.
"Yes, oh yes," she
said quietly as she opened her word processor. "That would due quite nicely..."
Chapter One
It was a lazy day for the
more-or-less-Animorphs. They'd gotten a well deserved break today, so they
decided to just hang out in the barn. Not only had they recently hurt the
Yeerks, but it looked like this would be a day free of those cursed fan
fic writers.
"No, do not
mention that title in my presence, Marco," Rachel said when he brought
up that fact. "We've gotten way too many visits from them lately. I mean,
it's one thing to use us in fan fics, so long as they don't get...ah...carried
away, but when they decide to drop in out of the blue..." she shook her
head, unable to complete the thought.
< Um, this is bad,
> Tobias announced suddenly.
"What?" Jake asked.
< I think we have
a...person that Rachel doesn't want us to mention. >
Everybody's face paled
at that news. They remained like that untill the fan fic author had entered
the barn.
"Hello?" she asked,
entering.
Rachel was the first
to snap out of her horror. In a flash, she had the new girl pinned to the
floor. "You. You are going to go back to whatever plane of existence you
people come from and leave us alone for one day!"
"Rachel!" Cassie cried,
trying to pull her best friend off the girl. She hated fan fic authors
as much as the next person, but this was a bit extreme.
"Rachel, please, let
me up," the author said calmly. "I come in peace, I have a...proposition
for all of you."
Marco looked at the
girl dubiously, "You mean, you aren't going to use some omnipotent powers
you people are always bragging about to throw Rachel against a wall or
something?"
"No. But I won't hesitate
to use them on you."
"What do all
of you people have against me?!"
The author shrugged,
"I don't know. Personally, I just think you're fun to pick on. That and
I'm sure it gets me into Rachel's good graces."
Rachel decided she
liked this girl and helped her up. "Thanks," the author said. "I'm Forlay,
by the way." She promptly found herself back on the floor again, thanks
to Rachel.
"I now know what a
yo-yo feels like," Forlay moaned.
"There is no way I'm
going to put up being in a self insertion story by you," Rachel said. "You've
done enough with me in regular stories without trying to blow me up, or
something equally weird you people do in these stories."
"Rachel, I'm not going
to do anything to you! I need your guys' help!"
"With what?" Jake asked.
"You all know Aniblaire,
right?"
Rachel shuddered. "There's
another author I don't like too much. He's not gonna show up in here, is
he?"
"I'm not planning on
it. Anyways, a bunch of the authors out there have decided he and I make
a...cute couple. Rachel, Marco, you should be able to sympathize with this.
How do you think all those Rachel/Marco fics got out there?"
"You're guilty of writing
those, too, Forlay," Rachel warned.
"Once. And I
had a bit of you and Tobias in the end of it so nobody minded! Can I get
on with the story please?! I do have omnipotent powers and if I
need to I'm not afraid to use them!" There was a pause while Forlay regained
her composure. "Thank you. Anyways, as I was saying, I have a proposition
for all of you. You know Aniblaire--" Rachel and Tobias tensed. "Geez,
you two! Chill! He's not here, nor will he be here, I promise!" Another
pause. "Okay, we'll try this again. As you've probably noticed from some
of those 'parody' fics out there, certain authors have decided the two
of us make a cute couple--"
"But you do," Marco
interjected, forgetting for a moment he was talking to someone who had
the power of life and death over him. Forlay gave a slight wave of her
hand and Marco was tied to a chair, his mouth duct taped shut
Forlay sighed. "So
much better! Now, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,"
she glared at Marco for effect, "No matter how 'cute' we look together,
neither of us appreciate the references. We're just friends!!! As
much as I'd love to take care of these authors myself, I need your guys'
help."
"Why?" Cassie asked.
"It says here in the
Fan Fic Writer's Handbook..." she took a small black book out of the bag
she had slung over her shoulder and flipped through a few pages. "On page
1,313, Paragraph two, subsection nine, that 'No omnipotent author or V.I.W.
(Very Important Writer) can kill/harm/maim any other omnipotent author,
V.I.W. or a lesser author'."
"So who can
you hurt?" Rachel asked.
Forlay smiled innocently.
"Our characters."
"Hey, I've seen writer's
harm eachother before, though. What's up with that?" Jake asked.
Forlay shrugged. "They
probably weren't unionized."
Marco mumbled something,
but the tape kept him from being understood clearly.
< I have to admit
I wouldn't mind taking out some much needed revenge on some of those authors
out there... > Tobias said.
Rachel quickly jumped
in with an agreement, as did the rest. Except Marco, who was still struggling
to get the tape off his mouth.
"Nifty," Forlay said.
"Here's my plan..."
Chapter Two
"Do we really have
to bring other author's into this?" Rachel asked after Forlay finished
with her plan. "I mean, in his last fic...heck, all his fics, he
has me die a horrible death! And keeps pairing me with Marco!"
"Rachel, yes, we need
him. Besides, I promised him I'd let him help me with this."
"Yeah, just because
you got a thank you at the end of the story where he had me die of the
Plague," she muttered.
"Hey, it was a good
idea!"
"He killed me!
And Tobias! And Ax!"
"You died saving the
rest of the world!"
"What about the fic
before that, he ran me over with a car! Just to watch me die!"
Forlay didn't have
a good response to that, so she switched to a different line of thought.
"Since we need to be out in the woods for the plan to work, we might as
well meet him out there. And it'll give Rachel less time to kill him. That
sound good to everyone?" They all nodded. "Good, let's go." They were just
about to leave when they heard a scrabbling sound behind them, then something
being knocked over. They turned around to see Marco, still tied to the
chair, laying on his side. Forlay sighed, waved her hand, and Marco was
free again. "But bug me and you're right back to being tied and gagged,"
she warned. Marco nodded silently. Once again, Forlay led them out of the
barn and into the woods.
The Animorphs and Forlay
soon reached the appointed place in the woods. "Here goes nothin'," Forlay
said under her breath. She didn't have much experience transporting people
other than characters places, so what happened now was anybody's guess.
She snapped her fingers three times quickly. Nothing happened. She tried
it again. Nothing. She tried once more, snapping slowly, counting each
snap. "One...two...three! WORK DARN YOU!" Once again, nothing happened.
"Now I'm getting
mad..." she said as she reached into her bag. She pulled out a book 'Life's
Little Instruction Book: the Fan Fic Writer Addition'. As the Animorphs
wondered just how many different books Forlay carried around in that bag,
she was flipping through the index trying to find a solution to the hiccup
in her powers. "Okay, 'What To Do When Your Powers Aren't Working.' For
leaving...for going...ah! 'For bringing other people in: If snapping hasn't
worked, try yelling at your powers for them to work.' Did that. 'If your
powers still refuse to work, call tech support.' What if I don't want
to call tech support?! 'Then you're out of luck?!' I don't think
so! Darn union instruction books...anyways...what else could work?"
"Do you have to say
a magic word or something?" Marco asked helpfully, then realized that may
constitute as 'bugging' Forlay, and quickly covered his mouth.
"What a stupid idea.
There has to be something...hey, maybe there's a magic word!" Marco rolled
his eyes. How big did these author's have to build their egos? He hadn't
met one yet that had a nice sized ego. Like his.
Forlay was flipping
through the index of the instruction book again. "Magic words...Bipidi-Bopidy-Boo...Abracadabra...open
sesame...last resort word...Okay, I think I'll go with that one." Once
again, she snapped her fingers three times and said a word that can't be
written in here as Forlay was determined to keep this a G rated fic.
There was a puff of
over dramatic smoke as Forlay jumped up and down wildly, happy her powers
worked. The smoke cleared after a moment, leaving a very bewildered Bob
standing in the middle of the group of Animorphs.
"Hey, Bob!" Forlay
greeted cheerfully.
"Forlay? Mind explaining
just what I'm doing here? Not that I mind...got me out of making
dinner."
"Remember that little...situation
I have with a few authors that I promised you could help me with? Now's
the time."
"Situation...oh, yeah,
the Aniblaire thing? Cool. What do ya' need me for?"
"Well, the plan is
to lure a few of these authors here."
"There's only two.
D.M.P. and Rb."
Forlay shrugged. "So?
We can take care of every author who's put me and Aniblaire together at
once. Is that a problem?"
"Not with me," Bob
said complacently. "How're we going to get them here?"
"Think they'd like
a party?"
Chapter Three
Rb was sitting at her computer,
reading through the reviews at FanFiction.Net. Uh-oh she thought
as she read one for 'A Lack of Cents'. I guess Forlay doesn't like being
mentioned with Aniblaire...oh, well. They make a cute couple. D.M.P. said
so.
She finished reading
the reviews, then went to check her e-mail quick. There was one message,
from Bob Elder, the subject said 'PARTY!!!' Rb clicked on it.
" 'Rb and D.M.P.,'
" she read aloud, " 'You're invited to a party that few authors have been
invited to attend. The party's going to start as soon as you reply to this
e-mail. Don't worry about how long or where it's going to be, we've got
it all taken care of. --Bob.' Wonder who else is going? It's not much of
a party if it's only three of us. Maybe someone else is taking care of
the rest of the people. Oh, well." She clicked the reply button and sent
off the e-mail to Bob saying she'd love to go to the party.
Meanwhile, at D.M.P.'s...
"Ooh, e-mail!"
D.M.P. said excitedly when she saw the message from Bob. She read through
his message quick."I love parties!" As she sent off the reply to Bob, she
hoped that she could still attend, despite the fact she was still in the
insane asylum.
Back in the woods with Forlay, Bob
and the Animorphs...
"They both said
yes!" Bob said once he received both e-mails.
"Great!" Forlay said.
She gave a wave of her hand, and the small clearing was suddenly decorated
for a party. "At least that works," she muttered. "Now to bring
the honored guests." She was just about to snap her fingers when she realized
she should warn the Animorphs. "Rb and D.M.P are going to be here in a
minute--"
"If your powers work,"
Rachel reminded her, knowing that Forlay wouldn't use her omnipotent powers
on her.
Forlay glared at Rachel,
"Yes, if my powers work. Anyways, hide. And for those of you who have problems
with either of them, please contain yourselves untill it's time
to attack. Please?" Reluctantly, the Animorphs nodded. "Thank you," Forlay
said politely.
Once the Animorphs
were hidden, Forlay snapped her fingers three times, this time, the smoke
appeared right away. Since two people had had to come this time, the smoke
was unusually thick. By the time it had cleared, everyone was in a coughing
fit. The two girls looked around confused once they could see again. "Where
are we?" Rb asked.
"At the party," Bob
said, standing up from where he'd been sitting at his laptop, which Forlay
had popped into existance for him.
"Small party," D.M.P.
observed.
"Oh, I think it's big
enough," Forlay said innocently, making herself visible to the new comers
for the first time.
D.M.P. began to look
a bit nervous, but Rb didn't take notice. Her and Forlay went way back...well,
not quite a year, ever since Forlay asked to write a sequel to 'The Night'.
"Hey, Forlay! What's up? What's the party for?"
Forlay shrugged, keeping
up the mask of innocence. "Just felt like inviting some authors who are
V.I.W.'s in their own right to a party."
D.M.P.'s eyes lit up
at the mention of V.I.W.'s. "You mean...you think I'm a V.I.W.?"
"Sure I do, D.M.P.!"
Forlay said, leading her guests to seats at a table full of junk food.
"Both of you have written some amazing stories. And, Rb, you are
the one who got me into the romance fic genre."
Rb rolled her eyes,
it was an old argument. Forlay insisting Rb got her into romance, Rb denying
it. But she wasn't here to argue. Forlay, a V.I.W. was calling her one!
One doesn't pass up a moment like this, even if she'd considered herself
a V.I.W. for a while.
"Help yourselves,"
Forlay said as she and Bob took seats opposite of Rb and D.M.P.
Forlay couldn't help
but smile slightly to herself as D.M.P. and Rb dug into the food, not aware
what fate held in store for them. D.M.P. began to reach for a dish of dark
colored, cold food, but Forlay snatched it away. "This one's being saved
for later," she improvised. Her plan had nearly been ruined, she thought
as she arranged the place card in front of the dish, 'Revenge-a dish best
served cold'.
Before long, the four
authors had eaten every scrap of food on the table-save the dish of Revenge.
"When do we get to
eat that?" D.M.P. asked. "It looks almost like the food they serve in the
asylum, which is actually pretty good, although it's an acquired taste.
Forlay glanced discretely
into the woods where the Animorphs had hidden and nodded slightly, this
was their cue.
"Hi, Rb," Rachel said,
as she was the first to emerge. Rb's mouth dropped open. "Rachel!"
Rachel laughed, as
much amused at Rb's reaction as the thought of the chaos that was to ensue.
"That's me."
D.M.P. and Rb continued
to be shocked as the rest of the Animorphs entered the clearing.
"Hey, where's Ax?"
D.M.P. asked when she realized the Andalite wasn't coming.
"Uh...he's...watching
The
Young and the Restless," Forlay said quickly. "You know how he loves
his soaps." D.M.P. nodded understandingly.
"How'd you arrange
this, Forlay?" Rb asked.
"I have connections."
"Ah."
"Hey, do we get to
eat that now?" D.M.P. "The guests of honor are here."
"No, D.M.P., we aren't
the guests of honor, that's you two," Marco said. "Forlay planned this
entire party for you two to welcome you two the league of V.I.W.'s."
"And you agreed to
this?" D.M.P. asked dubiously.
"Why wouldn't we?"
Cassie asked. "I mean, what you two have done to us only happened in stories,
right? No hard feelings for something that doesn't actually happen."
< Yeah, > Tobias
agreed. < Besides, Forlay's done worse stuff than you, and this was
all her idea. >
"Funny," Forlay said
dryly. "Anyways, I know you five have stuff to be doing, so I'll let you
go." The Animorphs and authors said good bye to eachother and the Animorphs
left through the woods.
"Now--"
"Yes, D.M.P.," Forlay
said patronizingly. "Now you can have this." She scooped out the
blackish-blue, nearly frozen glop onto D.M.P.'s and Rb's plates. Neither
looked terribly excited to eat it, but figured it must be some sort of
rite of passage to become a V.I.W.
Forlay and Bob watched
eagerly as the two nieve authors began to eat. when they were about halfway
through, Forlay motioned to the Animorphs, who hadn't gone far when they
left, just far enough to morph their battle morphs and not be seen. They
entered the clearing again, making as much noise as possible.
Marco and Rachel, being
the only two who were in a morph with anything resembling arms, grabbed
D.M.P. and Rb and held the struggling girls.
"What's going on?!"
Rb demanded, trying to get out of Rachel's grasp.
"Just a bit of revenge,"
Forlay said sweetly. By the blank looks on the faces of Rb and D.M.P.,
it was a safe bet they didn't understand what the omnipotent V.I.W.
was talking about. "You guys just ate my homemade batch of revenge."
"Revenge is a dish
best served cold, after all," Bob supplied.
"Why do you want revenge
on us?" D.M.P. asked. "And why did you drag our heroes into this?"
< Don't try to suck
up, D.M.P., > Marco said. < We needed a bit of revenge ourselves. Forlay
just presented the opportunity. >
"She's a V.I.W., she
could do something horrible to us herself!"
"I'm unionized," Forlay
said. "I can't do anything to you guys."
"Remind me not to join
your union," Rb muttered.
"But it's got great
benefits. And it gives me the right to use whatever means necessary, so
long as I don't break union rules, to seek revenge."
"Do we get that right?"
D.M.P. whispered to Rb. Rb shook her head. "Darn."
"As for why
I want to seek revenge on you guys...both of you have made...how should
I phrase this...remarks about me and Aniblaire which I just didn't like."
"But you guys look
so cute together!" D.M.P. protested.
< Not a good thing
to say to this girl, > Marco said. < I don't think she's stable. > Unfortunately
for him, Forlay's omnipotent powers allowed for her to hear his thought
speech. She swiftly proceeded to take away his ability to thought speak,
leaving him mute.
"No matter how cute
we look, it's wrong to mess with highly respected authors like that!"
"It's not like I actually
said
anything..." Rb said.
"It's more of what
you didn't say. You both used the stupid ellipse things to connect
me, and action, and Aniblaire, that's more than enough for me!"
< Can we get this
over with soon? > Rachel asked. < My arms are getting tired. Carry out
your revenge and get this over with! >
"Impatient, aren't
we?" Forlay observed. "Fine. Rachel, Marco? Drop 'em." Rb and D.M.P. abruptly
found themselves sitting on the ground.
"Ouch," D.M.P. muttered.
"Bob, the rope please?"
Bob handed Forlay a piece of rope, which she used to tie Rb and D.M.P.
together, back to back.
"Now, I want the two
of you to sit there, quietly, and try and come up with some semblance of
a story plot," Forlay told them sternly. The bound authors wondered what
sort of deranged revenge Forlay had thought up, but decided it was best
to do what she told them.
"There's...nothing,"
Rb said after a moment, not really believing it. "I can't think of any
new plots. I can't even remember the plots of the stories I'm working on
right now!"
D.M.P. got a panic-stricken
look on her face, "Me neither! Forlay! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"
Forlay and Bob were
nearly in convulsions with laughter, as were the now-demorphed Animorphs.
It was always fun for them to watch a writer suffer. "The Revenge I had
you eat," Forlay said between gasps. "Had a bunch of special ingredients,
including such evil foods as Spam," she paused to laugh again. "And the
particular blend of ingredients deadens your creative powers!"
"You...you couldn't!
Wouldn't!" Rb said.
"Oh, but I could and
I did," Forlay said, beginning to sober up. "Now, I'm going to let you
two go and send you back to your various places of residence and let you
think about the anguish you put people like me and Aniblaire through when
you make cracks like that in your story." She waved her hand and the rope
tying up Rb and D.M.P. disappeared. They looked about ready to cry. Forlay
almost took pity on them and restored their powers. Almost. She snapped
five times, the combination to send someone away, and sent the two away
in a flash of light.
Once everyone could
see again, Forlay and Bob bid good bye to the Animorphs, who went off to
enjoy the rest of their Yeerk free day.
"Don't you think perhaps
taking away their powers was a bit harsh?" Bob asked once they were gone.
"No. It'll only last
for a day, at the most, but they didn't need to know that."
Epilogue
Forlay was the last author
to return home. Bob had had to be returned before her, or risk being stuck
in the woods for awhile. Once she was sure he wasn't lost somewhere, she
sent herself home.
As soon as she was
there she quickly logged on to her computer and began looking at the newest
fan fics at FanFiction.Net. She began to read, and came across the all
too familiar ellipses. "Oh boy."
Author's Notes: Sorry D.M.P and Rb, I just
had to do this, it's been driving me crazy(er)!!!