Post by Katty on May 29, 2011 10:04:39 GMT 10
SMACKDOWN 2011
FINAL: WINNER'S FIC
CIRCLECEST v PUPPY LOVE
FINAL: WINNER'S FIC
CIRCLECEST v PUPPY LOVE
Clary Goodwin held up the small light, illuminating the dusty sign on the exterior of the building. “Retired Fights,” she read out.
“This is the place,” Mattias Tunstall said quietly. “That is what the tip said.”
Clary inspected the door. “The building is looking fairly unused, especially for one on Goldenlake Street. Are you sure this could be the home of an illegal underground fighting ring?”
Mattes nodded. “The more unused, the better,” he replied. “Its less likely to arouse suspicion. He lent over, and pushed the door. It was unlocked and swung right open.
Clary rolled her eyes. “You are hopeless. Let’s go”
- - -
The clocked figures huddled around a door, silent as the night.
I can feel the magic inside, Sandry thought it the others
It feels like death, Briar thought warily. Are you sure you want to go in now? We can come back in the morning.
Tris rolled her eyes. We go in now – the smugglers will be back in the morning, and we’ll never get to the bottom of this if they have time to clean up after themselves.
Daja stepped forward, and pushed on the door. Unlocked, it swung wide open, beckoning them in.
- - -
Clary and Mattes crept down the hallway.
“This place smells rotten,” Mattes whispered. “I think I know why.” They had come to a door marked ‘Round 1’. He pushed open the door, and recoiled at what he saw.
Bodies lined the walls, neatly preserved and framed in pairs, like insects. Their eyes were open, and they looked as if they could have been frozen, not dead, except for the large pins driven through their hands and feet, holding them perfectly out.
Mattes walked up to the pair closest to them, a young Bazhir man and an older, more regal looking man. “Zahir and Jonathan,” he read out loud. He moved to the next frame, which held a stocky woman and her tall, beautiful companion. “Buri and Thayet”. He turned to Clary. “This is more gruesome than I expected, by the Gods.”
Clary moved to examine the other frames. “Kalasin and Wyldon, Aly and Taybur” she read out loud. “Neal and Owen, Rosethorn and Crane, Roger and Alanna, Delia and Josianne”. She shuddered. “All these poor people… do you suppose they are the losers of the fighting ring?”
Mattes looked back towards the door. “I suppose we should go find out.”
- - -
Briar, Daja, Sandry and Tris peered around the dark hallway.
Briar and I will take this room, Sandry thought to the others, indicating to the room marked ‘Round Two’. Daja, Tris – you take the other room, ‘Round Three’.
Briar pushed open the door, and after hesitating for a moment, stepped into the room. He cringed at what he saw – eight bodies, framed in pairs, lined the walls. Each had a plaque over them, and Briar stepped forward to read them.
“Dom and Evin, Gary and Raoul” he said out loud. He glanced at the other frames, horrified. “Raoul and Sabine?” he questioned, seeing the tall man again.
“Oh no,” Sandry exclaimed. “Oh no, Briar! Look! Its Lark and Rosethorn.”
We found bodies, Daja thought urgently to the others.
Marked ‘Jonathan and Keladry’ and then Keladry again, with Maura, Tris explained.
We found something more shocking, Briar replied.
Before he could explain though, a great BOOM sounded, shaking the building.
- - -
“What was that?” Mattes exclaimed, holding the doorframe to steady himself.
Clary steeled herself. “We should go see – I imagine an attempt to clean up this mess.”
They left the door, and headed down the hallway. They could smell smoke, indicating part of the building was already burning. Despite this, they pushed on.
Suddenly, they came to a wide, open room, lined with crates of various heights. It looked like a crude kind of stand, like the nobles used for tournaments. There was a black coloured board in the corner, with what looked like a fight list drawn on it in white chalk. The names of the unfortunate souls they had seen earlier were on it, along with many more. A small fire was burning in one corner of the room; a lone teddy bear sat in the other corner on a makeshift throne, as if watching them.
“We’re not alone,” Mattes replied warily, hearing the sound of footsteps. The door on the other side of the room burst open, and four
“Halt!” Clary yelled. “You are under arrest in the name of King Roger, for an illegal fighting ring!”
The blonde woman clenched her fists. “Nonsense. You are under arrest in the name of my uncle the Duke of Emelan, for smuggling!” she reached out, and Mattes felt his clothes begin to wriggle.
Clary lashed out towards the dark woman standing near her, who darted away, into the flame. The flame grew bigger, but instead of burning, the girl was untouched.
Mattes threw himself towards Sandry. “Usually women buy me a drink before they take my clothes off,” he said, and she squealed, trying to push him off. Tris and Briar tried to haul him off her, but he pulled them down too, tangling themselves up with Clary and Daja until they were a pile of writhing, fighting bodies.
Clary noticed the flames growing stronger, as other parts of the building caught fire. “We all need to get out of here,” she yelled. Glancing around the room, she searched for a door. She had time to register that the teddy bear was gone, before a large BOOM shook the room, and the building collapsed.
- - -
The pile of rubble was already engulfed in flames when onlookers rushed to the scene. It looked as if no one had survived except – wait – there was movement, in one part of the building. It looked as if a woman had crawled through, and was hauling a man out with her. Helpers pulled them from the rubble, while others tried to douse the flames with whatever they could find.
They were looking worse for wear, but were definitely alive – Clary and Mattes had won.
- - -
THE RESULT - TEAM PUPPY LOVE!
BREAKDOWN:
Puppy Love – 345 Fics
Circlecest - 336 Fics
TOTAL - 681 Fics
THANK YOU: TO EVERYONE WHO WROTE, CHEERED, PARTICIPATED OR MODDED SMACKDOWN! You are all amazing.
And that, my doves, is the end of SMACKDOWN 2011.
THE RESULT - TEAM PUPPY LOVE!
BREAKDOWN:
Puppy Love – 345 Fics
Circlecest - 336 Fics
TOTAL - 681 Fics
THANK YOU: TO EVERYONE WHO WROTE, CHEERED, PARTICIPATED OR MODDED SMACKDOWN! You are all amazing.
And that, my doves, is the end of SMACKDOWN 2011.
Both teams did an amazing job - I'm in awe at the sheer amount of fic everyone's produced for SMACKDOWN, it's awesome!
Thank gods it wasn't a tie, eh? Hehehe.
