Madness and Mayhem

[Trad]

PrologueIt was strangely appropriate that Madness was born in a time of chaos. At the time he was born, the world was in turmoil.Here is a sampling of what had happened.

• China had reclaimed Hong Kong, which voiced its opinions on the matter very loudly. Err…
• The USSR had broken up some years ago, leaving Captain America depressed and suicidal. Oops.
• About half of the world had professed atheism, sapping the strength and powers of the Æsir–Vanir gods in Asgard. Ouch.

But most important of all,

• For some reason, people decided to blame mutants for everything, causing them to be the bogeypeople. Even the other, non-mutant heroes did that. Oh dear.

That didn’t really affect Madness’ life yet, anyway. However, the first obstacle he ever had in his life was surviving the first few hours of his life.You see, the government of his country also decided to jump the bandwagon and blame the mutants for every problem that they faced. Eventually, they implemented a policy that stated mutants were to be killed, regardless of age or ability. Either that or it was to join the army for life.There was a lot of opposition to this, of course, and people protested, but the people protested soon disappeared or changed their minds quickly.The hospital in which Madness was born was run by moderate thinking people who didn't like the new mutant policy. They believed that everyone was equal, so they did not kill any mutant babies and falsified records concerning them.When Madness was born, he didn't display any untoward unusual baby traits (although he did have a more than average large head). He didn't speak complete sentences or fly around. In fact, he was a peaceful, quiet baby.Or so it seemed.Mutations ran in the Walker family, and Madness was no exception. (His father could program anything, his mother could sing enchantingly) When he eventually started crawling, his parents were delighted and amazed and slightly bit puzzled when they found he could traverse walls and ceilings without any help.All was peachy in the family, but it was not to last.Here's the review topic.

Edited October 18, 2012 by TradTheMentalist

[Trad]

Chapter One Part One“Anyone up for a game session? You scurvy knave, do you pertain to challengeth the great Dungeon Master?” asked Gray a grin.George snorted. “Do you have to speak that freaking poncy?” he said scathingly. “We’re not playing D&D-or did you have tucked in one of shelves somewhere?”They were all gathered at Gray’s house for a gaming session of Shotguns and Zombies. Although Gray insisted on acting like it was somehow Dungeons and Dragons, he was quite a good gamemaster, albeit a short-tempered, dramatic one, with an inclination of sending out hordes of zombies at the most inopportune moments. He also was a mutant of the speed persuasion.Gray laughed and replied, “No. I just do it to annoy the heck out of you.” He brought out the large gamemaster (although he called it “Director’s Notes”) book. “Now,” he said, heaving the book onto the table with an ‘umph’, “Who’s up for a session?”Sylvia came in, carrying a mug filled with a foul-smelling concoction of some sort. “What’s the quarrel?” she asked and downed it in one gulp. She shuddered. “Ugh.”George replied, “No, just a minor disagreement.”Sylvia was a teacher about twenty years old. She preferred to be called Silly by her friends and students, as she believed that old age was partly influenced by psychology. So far, it wasn’t working quite as well as she would like it to be.Annie followed Silly out from the kitchen, munching something. She herself was a plump girl of six years old, with above average intelligence. She was Ben's younger sister. Ben took her along to the game one evening when his parents couldn't get a babysitter for the night. So that she wouldn’t get bored, Dray quickly generated a new character for her to play.“So, are we playing?” asked Silly.“Ben’s still not here, so we can’t-” Gray said.He was interrupted by the yowling of a cat and the screeching of a car’s brakes.“That’ll be him.” said Gray, satisfied. “Why’s your brother late these days?”“His patience?” was Annie’s mathematical reply.“What?” Gray asked, confused.“The other kind, dummy.” was her reply.“Oh.”Ben burst into the room, still wearing his doctor’s coat. “Sorry, there was this…huh…gigantic boil on…”A cough from Gray stopped him. “er…too much information…”. He really said it like that. Somehow it was cut through everyone else’s chatter. “Well, who’s up for a session?”Everyone’s hands went up.“Great. Dice, now.” he said.“Wait a mo,” muttered George, digging in his pockets. “ I've got something for little Annie here… Where did I put it?”The others stared while George shook out his pockets in an effort to find what he was looking for.“Ah, here it is.” He drew out a pair of dice from a pocket. “Here, Annie.”The others looked curiously at what he had in his hand. They were a pair of dice.“Hey, they’re silver!” yelled out Silly. “Where’d you get them?”“They’re handcrafted, aren’t they?” asked Gray as he picked one up for closer scrutiny.“Yup. Smith made them. I don’t know where he got the silver from, though.”Ben muttered something about disappearing instruments. George pretended not to hear.“So, how do you like them, Annie?”Annie stood up on her stool and leaned forward to pick them up. “Thank you, George!”Gray gave a dry cough. “Can we start now?”“Sorry!” chorused everyone.“Well then,” said Gray looking around the table. “Dice.”Five pairs of hand stretched out, each holding a pair of dice.

• Gray’s was a pair of dice made out of wood. Numbers were inscribed on it in ink.
• Annie had the pair of dice given to her by George.George’s was whimsically gothic.
• Silly’s was a pair that looked like something out of a sci-fi game.
• Ben’s was a pair of dice that looked like vats of poison.

“OK, since we’re all here, and not replaced by brainwashed clones of ourselves,” grinned Gray, “Let’s start.”

Edited November 8, 2012 by ConTradictheory

[Makaru]

Topic closed per starter's request.