As I mentioned, the previous piece worked so well because it was a very focused piece on Konall. No dialog, just Konall reflecting on his life with his sister Kadlin as he prepared a weapon to hopefully destroy her. To kill his own corrupted and possibly irredeemable sister.

This one's the opposite - this one is just flat out fun, with other PC's and NPC's popping in as it goes. It isn't short or compact but every bit is fun, with Jay even showing up in the middle for no real reason at all other than he just did.

It's a fun one. Enjoy!

 
"All I'm saying is it's not fair for me to play 'I Spy' - magnified vision, innumerable language database, and a wicked sense of humour tends to get on other individuals' nerves," pointed out Glyn as he walked.

"What?" Wildfall shrugged. "No worries, I sorta tune you out when you're talking, anyway."

"That's honest but not very polite." said Glyn.

Wildfall smiled. "Figured you'd appreciate that for some reason."

Glyn harumphed expressively, then went back to his 'solo' conversation. "Over nine thousands worlds visited, and every one has had a 'smartass'."

"What, only one?" Wildfall's smile turned into more of a smirk. "I knew at least five or six back home. Of course, I'm not much of a smartass myself, as you can tell.."

"Well, least you realize the extent of your intelligence. Sadly, I think I'll have to educate you in the difference between a figurative and a literal meaning. Do they sell dictionaries where we're going?" fired back Glyn. Wildfall opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by a familiar battle cry, causing sheer horror in all who recognize it.

"LEEDLE LEEDLE LEEDLE LEEDLE LEEDLE LEEDLE!!"

And a dark figure with a lampshade on his head popped out of nowhere.

"Here he is, Mr. Universe, here he is, its Jay!" cried the aforementioned mysterious figure.

"Hey, I haven't seen you guys around here before, who are you?" Jay thought out loud.

"We're in a rush," Wildfall said, trying to ignore the crazy new figure.

"Is it on an adventure, I like adventures," cried Jay excitedly.

Glyn pointed ahead before elaborating - "We're testing the difference between a smooth, calibrated flight and a rushed, panic-filled, adrenaline-pumped one. It doesn't count as an adventure for me, but I'm biased."

"So stranger," Wildfall asked. "Up for getting yourself killed by a few Knob Goblin mages?"

"Would they happen to use any water magic, and I mean anything water at all?" Jay worriedly put out- "because I can’t swim and it freaks me out."

"Oh," Wildfall said. "There's rivers. Lots of them."

"So I may have to ride on you guys' backs, but otherwise, I'm up for an adventure." Jay coolheadedly said.

Wildfall shrugged. "Whatever you say, buddy."

"YAY" Jay yelled.

Listening to all of this banter was Tus, the Brute in charge of the Blood Clan detachment that had been assigned to this project. He didn't really understand of most of the commentary but he knew that soon enough he would be able to lead the charge against somebody. This made the Brute smile as he looked over his unit. The unit, of about a dozen, was a mix of Goblins, Vikings, and various other beings who had found home in the Blood Clan. It was an odd crew but they assured him, a good crew. A smaller Knob Goblin, with pale yellow skin, ducked under Tus's arm, walking past him. His arms had been altered like his ears to be more batlike so naturally they called him.. Squirrel.

It made no sense to Tus but then again, Knob Goblin's scientists didn't tend to make sense. Squirrel looked up at the big guy, then shifted his eyes upward. "Squirrel doesn't like that cloud."

"What cloud?" Tus looked up at the sky wondering what Squirrel was talking about.

"Big one," Squirrel said, shrinking back. "'Is looking like giant apple with tee head. Is something hiding behind it, thinks Squirrel."

"Uhhh Tus no see it." Tus kept staring at the sky trying figure out what Squirrel was talking about.

"It's there though," Squirrel said. "I know it, I can feel it."

Meanwhile, Wildfall looked to Jay. "So why are you actually coming with?"

".. I get bored sometimes, and I’m trying to find something to do."

"Well, it is the end of the world," answered Wildfall.

"Wait, it’s the end of the world and no one tell me?"

"I figured you'd know by now, geez."

"Nope, not aware of anything out of the ordinary."

"Not even the portals poppin up outta nowhere? The riots didn't get your attention either? Or Penguin Mafia in Seaside Town?"

"I don't know, I may or may not have been the cause of the portals, and I may or not have started all of those riots too."

Wildfal eyerolled. "Don't worry, I got those answers. You didn't and you weren't."

"So hey, who are you exactly?"

"Jarlsboris Wildfall. Ireacan rogue. International heartbreaker."

"Alright, so I’m Jay, I’m an Ireacan soldier, and I hail from the land of kiss my anthia, and I may or may not have to find my buddy Lou, a demon from the 7th circle of hell."

"You better hurry and go find him," Wildfall said, pointing in a random direction. "He's probably about twenty five miles in that direction."

"Are you sure? Cause gullible isn't my middle name."

"Go look for yourself," Wildfall offered.

“Alright.”

And as Jay wandered off, Wildfall's friends from the Blood Clan took a moment to introduce themselves to him, in a very violent and brutal way. No wait, it was actually the Knob Goblins or maybe Penguin mafia. Either way, Wildfall and the others made their way towards Degrassi which didn't take too much longer.

"Okay, we're here, what do ya think?" Wildfall asked Tus, who towered over Wildfall and the others. "Shall I do a little scouting so we can figure how to get the drop on them? Or would you rather I go deep inside for the good intel? Of course, that's a little riskier and it would take a lot longer. Or we could..."

"Tus just want to smash."

"Okay," Wildfall said, nodding. "I totally get that. I'll just go ahead and find the best most smashable targets, okay?"

Tus merely nodded as his attention was drawn to something approaching from deep in the Knoll. It moved like a blur, and quickly vanished out of sight. Tus shook his head, figuring it must be a trick of the light since nothing could move that fast. They started to make their way inwards, with the others staying behind. Suddenly, a blur knocked Wildfall off his feet and sent him flying into Tus, whose mass absorbed the impact.

Standing before them, a Muri-Dan dressed in a pair of red shorts with white buttons on the front.

"Who the hell are you?" Wildfall asked, scrambling to get to his feet.

"Some call me Mortimer," the ratlike creature said. Though it stood on two legs, it still moved liked a rodent - and like a dangerous adversary. Wildfall could tell that and looked forward to taking the beast's measure.

"What does rodent man want?" asked Tus as he flexed his bulky body in preparation for a fight.

"Just your still beating heart for a meal," Mortimer replied, licking his lips and flicking his tail. "You, big one, you'll feed the Trinity a good week."

"Yeah well rodent man not even make good toothpick."

"Haha, tough talk, brain damage." With that, the Muri-Dan seemed to turn into a streak of light, moving fast enough to take Wildfall unaware and send him flying. He turned his attention to Tus. Mortimer quickly rushed in, nailed Tus with a series of shots and moved out of striking distance before Tus could register what was going on.

"Where rodent man go?" Tus demanded, twirling a large steel clawhead hammer. Steel. A special import from the distant lands. Some considered its durability to be the mark of magic but it really wasn't. Mortimer decided to have a little fun, rushing in from behind and nailing Tus then vanishing in a burst of superspeed. "What's attacking me?!" demanded Tus.

<954.842.213... 0.0.0. excellent...> "I'll intercept the slippery one, guys - hit him hard then, but be cautious!" Glyn said, interposing himself into the fight. "Let's see - how about a 'Raven' special first?" Materializing a stack of energy blades, the space elf flung them swiftly at the Muri-Dan, forcing him to adjust his movement. The Muri-Dan almost seemed to smile.

"Oh, goodie, a challenge." With that he rushed at the space elf, stopping behind Glyn. "Not really, you still move too..."

"Really? You were looking at me alone? Psst, please..." mocked Glyn. His arms struck backwards automatically, protecting his blind side. "I said: 'I'll intercept you' - left the hitting part up to companion #1."

Flustered, the Muri-dan tried to light up Glyn with a series of punches, chops and kicks only to find to his frustration, the space elf was able to block them, assisted by a force Mortimer couldn't understand- the cysuit.

However, Mortimer had another trick up his sleeve, focusing his chi into a wave of energy around him as he rushed the space elf for another attack. It was enough surprise and force to take Glyn off hand and send him flying back. It was also enough of a distraction for Wildfall to sneak up and blast the Muri-dan in the back of the knee with Wildfall's trademark thick oak shillelagh. It dropped the brute and set him up for Tus to swing his warhammer catching Mortimer in the back as he fell. Then once he fell, Tus kicked him in the arm hard enough for the Muri-Dan to scream in pain. Tus swung again for another kick- but the Muri-Dan was gone. Wildfall glanced into the distance to see him limping off - yet faster than even the space elf could follow. One of Mortimer's arms hung to his side, looking totally useless.

With that out of the way, our heroes resumed their journey to Degrassi Knoll, not yet noticing the small ship which had emerged from the clouds to follow them.

Special thanks to Fumblies' handler for writing most of Tus here!

And that's what makes AIL so great. We had a lot of really talented writers, but the whole point of the game was mostly to have fun. Of course, having good stories (and we did) helped that out tremendously.

Plus you could go from a well written short piece to a more chaotic co-write like this. I think there's room for both and I think in a game like AIL, you should have both.

I also loved the contrast between Tus, a brute enhanced by magic, and Glyn, one of the advanced space elves from another world.