Footsteps echoed loudly on the cold metal floor.
The small fifteen year-old blonde crouched at the corner of the hallway, waiting for the source of the noise. Suddenly a large, pearly white wing emerged. Soft feathers brushed her cheek as an angelic boy bolted past her.
"Pit!" The girl screamed, making the brunet halt and spin around.
"Guess! Oh my god, I thought I'd never find you." Pit panted, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Did you bring it?" She inquired, standing eargerly.
The angel nodded and handed her a piece of crumpled paper. Her small fingers gingerly unfolded the flyer, a grin spreading across her features as she scanned over the messy handwriting.
"Great, that's great. We just gotta get to the stage to announce it..." Guess murmured to herself, folding the letter neatly and placing it in her pocket.
The crowd was eager, and so was she. Her lithe teenage body quivered in anticipation and her numb fingers destroyed the paper she held even more.
"Guess! You ripped it." Pit said, gently plucking the announcement from her hands.
The girl wiped her hands on her fitted grey dress before running them through her golden hair.
"It's fine, I'll be better without it anyways. I like audiences." She smiled at the angel before taking a deep breath and venturing out on to the stage.
Guess raised a hand, earning an excited reaction from the crowd. Or, at least, it was somewhat excited. Not many knew who she was or exactly what she did; they also did not know the purpose of the gathering. She grabbed the microphone off of it's stand and grinned.
"Hello! I'm Guessworks, but call me Lauren." She paused to smile again. "Uh, I bet you guys are wondering why you're here, the entire Smash Bros fanfiction community..."
The blonde seemed to lose some confidence at the thought.
"Well, first of all, you probably don't know me. I really enjoy Smash Bros, obviously. I write for this community." She gave a nervous laugh. "And I love alternate universe stories, as well as horror. Can any of you tell where this is going?"
Lauren seemed to forget all of her anxiety as she excitedly gave a little bounce and a grin.
"That's right, I'm hosting a contest! Or, to be more specific, a horror AU."
Interest blossomed in the crowd of authors as they murmured amongst themselves. Some cheers were heard, followed by a small bout of clapping.
"Now, obviously there will be prizes, along with rules and deadlines. I guess I'll start at the basic stuff, the general guidelines for the contest.
"First off, the story is one hundred percent AU. There is no Smash Mansion/Building/House or whatever. There is no fighting tournament, no subspace, and above all there is no Tabuu. Nothing related to the original plot and/or setting of any of the Smash Bros games will be allowed. As far as characters go, use any you want, just don't go too far out of character.
"Second, I want to be scared. Slashers are outdated, and frankly, tend to be quite boring. Ever played Silent Hill? Ever watched The Exorcist? What made those scary? The tension, the athmosphere, the psychological elements. Challenge yourself and try to incorporate that into your story.
"Third, please please please try to be innovative! I want to see something I've never seen before. Not genre-wise, romance and such is fine in the story, but plot-wise. I want to be shocked and appaled, disgusted and terrified! I don't care what rating your story has as well, so go wild.
"And now to deadlines! The contest will start as of today, September 1st. If you are to submit a story you should have the first chapter up (or at least send me a note confirming your participation) by September 28th. From then I will not accept any other new entries unless they were mentioned before road call. After that you have until October 28th to finish writing your stories, and if all goes well, I should have the results in on Halloween.
"Now, here's something extremely important! No matter how long the story is or how much effort you put in, I WILL NOT COUNT IT if you do not note me! You can put my name in the description all you want but the entry will not be counted as official until you send me a message. Reviews DO NOT count either, it has to be a message! This applies to you if you plan on entering but will not have your entry up in time for the road call, you have to send me a message as well. Only after I receive the message will you be officially entered in this contest."
The girl gave a small sigh and laugh and clapped her hands together.
"Now for the fun stuff, prizes! First place gets a full body, inked sketch of their favorite smasher or a two-chapter story (subject and such chosen by them). Second gets a full-body sketch of their favorite smasher or a oneshot, and third place will get a bust sketch of their favorite smasher. Any runners-up will get a certificate. Prizes will be drawn and/or written by me. If you'd like to offer up a prize of your own, well by all means, go ahead! If you'd like to see my art, you can visit me at hypheren . deviantart . com (take out the spaces)."
Guess smiled broadly.
"Any questions?"
Hands shot up at record speed, startling the energetic girl. She gave a small laugh and picked someone in the audience.
"Who's judging this?" The author asked over all of the noise in the stadium.
"Uhh, well, so far, it's just me." The blonde admitted, playing with her hair. "If you know anyone that wants to help, they'd be welcome on the judging panel with me."
"Is there a word limit? How about a chapter limit?" The next author questionned, trying hard to be heard over the others' voices.
"There is no word or chapter limit, per se. There is, however, a minimum. If you are writing a oneshot, then please, make it at least 750 words long. And if you're writing a multichapter, it would be great if you could write a minimum of 500 words per chapter. But as far as limits go, there are none, so go wild."
"And what about subject matter?" A concerned authoress in the front row bit her lip.
"It's horror, so really, it would be ridiculous to put limits on the subject matter. Gore, insanity, demons, anything is fine really. Rape is fine too, I guess, just be careful with it. In terms of romance, go ahead; I don't care about the pairing, just make sure the romance isn't the main focus of the story. It's gotta remain scary."
"Talking about romance, do pairings have to be straight?" Another authoress asked, eyes gleaming; Guess sighed.
"I don't care. Honestly I have nothing against whether the couple is hetero or not. Just make sure the romance is not the main focus of the story, please." She paused. "Were there any other questions?"
She waited a moment, then gave one last radiant grin.
"Have fun and see you all again on September 28!"