The Town Hall Archives

Elf of Rivendell · Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2003 10:21 pm Post subject:

Good news- I've decided to continue it at last. I have the next chapter written up, and I'll release it within the next 24 hours!

By the way, I already have the story after this mapped out, and in that one, you'll have a better part, Bennett.
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Chapter Eight

Ring.

Coralfish grimaced and stood up. This was the third time she had been interrupted from her work today. She stalked to the phone and snapped, "Hello, Odyssey Courthouse!"

"Coralfish? This is Jared."

"Oh, hello. Listen, I know what you're going to talk about. Like I said, I was not in the woods last night."

"Then who was? She looked exactly like you!"

"I don't know, but I really must be going..." Coralfish eyed the stack of unread papers on her desk.

"Oh, of course. Sorry."

Jared pressed the OFF button and turned to Jacob Isom. "She denied it. Who could it have been?"

Jacob shook his head. "I have no idea. Maybe she was lying."

"Why would she?"

"Maybe she doesn't trust you." Hawkeye offered seriously.

"Please, Hawkeye. I'm not in the mood for this." Jared sighed exasperatedly and sniffed.

Hawkeye started folding the tent again, but the hint of a smile lingered on his lips.

Meanwhile, Mandy, Smeagol, and Pianokitty were standing outside the woods. "I want to go check it out! I don't like the idea of someone spying on us." Pianokitty said. Smeagol readily agreed. Mandy seemed more hesitant. "Well... I don't know. I have a feeling it's going to be dangerous."

"Oh, come on!" Smeagol exclaimed. "It'll be cool! Besides, I know the area around here well. I used to live in one of the caves around here anyways. And I'm sneaky..."

"With a name like Smeagol you'd have to be! Well, I guess I could go with you guys, then." Mandy replied.

Pianokitty rushed to get her backpack out of her tent and raced back. Then Smeagol cautiously stepped into the dark woods. Mandy and Pianokitty followed closely.

Although Smeagol hacked away most of the obstacles in their way with his knife, an occasional branch often struck one of them unawares, scraping their knees, cutting their arms, or sending them hurtling to the ground. In spite of this, they trudged on. The dense foliage grew even thicker by the minute, making it difficult for them to move.

Finally, Mandy stopped. "I think we should go back. There's no sign of anyone anywhere!"

"Only a few more minutes! If we don't find anything in, say, ten minutes, we'll go back!" Pianokitty pleaded.

"Well..."

"Please?"

Mandy was about to reply when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something move. She turned to see a figure clad in brown shorts and a matching shirt disappear into the bushes.

"A girl!" Mandy exclaimed. "And she's wearing brown- she was spying on us!"

Smeagol immediately scuttled off.

"Smeagol, wait!" Pianokitty yelled and waded through the tall grass as fast as she could. She stubbed a toe and fell. Mandy followed her example and landed on top of her.

"SMEAGOL!"

Smeagol was already gone.
-------------------------------
Bennett looked at his wristwatch and pressed a button. According to the radar, he should not be very far from Cherries. Just then, he heard some rustling behind him. Two girls were falling over each other.

Bennett smiled and hurried on.

TO BE CONTINUED

Elf of Rivendell · Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2003 9:25 pm Post subject:

You're going to get your first glimpse of Cherries...soon...
______________________
Chapter Nine

"Pianokitty, help me with the sleeping bag, will you?" Skygazing called out, looking annoyed. She grabbed her sleeping bag and attempted to shove it in its sack again, but it refused to go in. Skygazing snorted in disgust and stopped Elf, who was walking by her tent. "Elf, could you help me with this stubborn thing?"

"Yeah, sure," Elf replied and sat down. "But don't blame me if we both get killed! Mine nearly strangled me when I tried to pack it up."

Skygazing nodded sympathetically. "By the way, have you seen Pianokitty?"

"Uh... no. Why?"

"Nothing," Skygazing said and punched the other half of the sleeping bag into the sack. For a moment, it stayed in the sack. Then it suddenly shot out, knocking both of them flat.

"Back to square one..." Skygazing groaned

-------------------------------------------------

Mandy brushed the twigs and bits of soil off her shirt. "Why did she leave us?" she exclaimed indinantly. A hand suddenly grabbed Pianokitty's shoulder from behind. She screamed.

It was Smeagol. "Be quiet!" She hissed.

"Where were you?" Mandy asked.

"Tracking Coralfish."

"Coralfish? That's our mysterious spy?"

"Yes. I saw her go into a cave just now."

"So why did you come back? She would be deep inside by now. We'll never find her!"

Smeagol smiled. "Oh, we will. You see, that's where I used to live. Follow me."

---------------------------------

The camp was in an uproar.

Skygazing kept screaming, "Pianokitty! Pianokitty! Pianokitty!" and bursting into tears while the Mitch and LOTR fan clubs were distraught over their respective missing individuals.

Jared finally couldn't take it anymore. He shoved his fingers in his ears and squealed, "QUUUUUIIIIIIIIIEEEEETTTTTTTTTTTTT!"

Everyone stopped and stared at him.

Jared jumped on a rock and cleared his throat importantly. "I think we should just go on without them." This raised a loud murmur of dissent. "Jared, you heartless politician!" Heather shouted.

"Oho, thank you about the 'politician' part. Anyway, Smeagol knows the terrain! She knows what she is doing. Now let's go!"

In a few minutes, the site was deserted.

----------------------------------------------

Bennett stood up from the log he was resting on. The underground city of Cherries was right before him. His journey was at an end. Cautiously, he stared descending the dark, steep tunnel.

TO BE CONTINUED

Elf of Rivendell · Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2003 10:03 pm Post subject:

Beth and Coralfish- you'll see... Mwa ha ha haha

And I'd like to make a little correction here. Pianokitty, Mandy, and Smeagol are already in the cave, not the woods, so... yes, Arem and Madison can have that part. Sorry about that.
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Chapter Ten

Pianokitty and Mandy entered the dank cave while Smeagol sniffed around them impatiently. "We're losing her by the minute!" she exclaimed and led the way toward three gaping tunnels.

"Which way do we go?" Mandy asked.

Smeagol stood still, sniffing silently. Finally, she pointed to the tunnel on the right.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you were the real Smeagol..." Mandy said as she followed Smeagol into the tunnel.

"What, do I look like him? Come on, we're wasting time."

The tunnel wound on and on. Sometimes the way was split into two, three, or even four ways, and Smeagol always detected a slight scent of someone having in one of those tunnels.

Suddenly, Mandy stopped and looked up at the ceiling. "Listen!"

"What?" Pianokitty asked.

"I hear footsteps right above us."

"Yeah, I do too." Smeagol said. "I've never come this far into the tunnel before and I don't really know where we are right now."

Mandy shuddered. It was not from the cold. "Come on, let's get it over with."
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Arem and Madison tried to keep up with the rest of the Townies, but they were falling behind quickly, mostly because Arem's heavy backpack was weighing them down.

"Why don't you ever get rid of the hacking equipment? You have way too many." Madison complained. "And you make me carry some."

"I can't! They're too valuable! Who knows when Novacom's coming in here?"

"So? We always end up being the last to get anywhere."

They were walking on the path beside the woods. On each side of the path, the ground curved down steeply, almost like a cliff. Trees covered every square foot of the ground beside the path.

"I wouldn't like to get lost in there," Arem said.

They trudged on as fast as they could, but the distance between them and the main group steadily increased. Suddenly, Madison tripped on a rock in the way and tumbled down the side of the path. She finally came to a stop in front of an old oak tree. "Ow."

Arem looked down anxiously at her. "Madison! Are you all right?"

"Uh... I think so. Just wait until I get back up." Wincing, Madison slowly got to her feet and tried to climb the slope

It wasn't working. Every time Madison tried to get a good foothold, some of the soil shifted and slid down. Arem stretched to grab Madison's hand- and suddenly lost her balance. For a few seconds, Arem lay on her back at the bottom of the slope, gasping for air.

Madison glared up at the path. "Now there's no way we can get back up again."

"Well... we could keep walking by the path and find someplace where we can get back up, I guess." Arem said slowly.

"Oh, that shouldn't take too long. Come on!"
----------------------------------------------------
"So... uh... this is Cherries." Robin said as she stood before an intricate network of stone walls and arches. "Not much of a city."

"Well, on the surface it isn't," Hawkeye replied. "The real city is underground."

"Underground? How do we get there?"

"That's what we're trying to look for right now." Dave said. "Give us a hand, will you?"

"Oh, sure."

After a few minutes, they heard Melissa shout. "I found it!" She had lifted up a huge piece of stone that covered a hole in the ground. Steps were carved directly into the wall of the pit.

The only one that was queasy was Samwise. "Uh-oh... I wish I didn't have my acrophobia and claustrophobia."
----------------------------
Beth hurried home from the library. She was helping a few others in trying to sort Azheim's books out. Since many of them had gone on their expedition to Cherries, the town was mostly deserted. She finally saw her house and broke into a run.

She heard some shuffling and stopped.
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Coralfish looked outside the courthouse. She wasn't getting many cases recently. She yawned and decided to take a walk. As she walked out the door, she thought she saw a dark shape prowling around Beth's house. She rubbed her eyes and looked again. It was gone.

TO BE CONTINUED

Elf of Rivendell · Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2003 7:39 am Post subject:

I'm so sorry for the delay. Thanks to everyone who reviewed!
------------------------------
Chapter Eleven

They descended the narrow stairway in single file. The only source of light was at the opening from which they had entered. Halfway down, Sonuna complained. She had been going first. "I need a light."

Without a word, Zwall pulled a penlight out of his pocket.

"Oh, thanks." Sonuna reached for it. Zwall held it high over his head. "No."

"Fine, then. You go first." Sonuna frowned.

"My pleasure." They shoved and squeezed and somehow switched places. Meanwhile, everyone else was waiting impatiently. "Could you hurry it up?" Ferder said. "The longer my LEGO pieces stay in this cramped space, the more they get damaged."

"All right!" Zwall said and began leading the way downwards. Soon, they reached the bottom of the staircase. A narrow doorway stood open in front of them, and they entered to find themselves in a huge cavern. The room was roughly shaped like a circle, and tunnels branched off into all directions.

A crude sign was nailed above each entrance. The one in front of them said "Azheim's office", while another on their right stated, "The library."

Beth started. "The library! That's where Azheim probably keeps our..."

But before she could finish, everyone was already flooding into the tunnel.

------
Arem and Madison appear in the next part, never fear.

TO BE CONTINUED

Elf of Rivendell · Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2003 6:14 am Post subject:

Chapter Ten

Eiram stumbled on a stone right in front of the library and fell. She looked behind her to see all the Townies rushing into the library... and she was in their path. Her eyes widened. She rolled out of the way just in time.

"There are the LOTR books!" SoccerLOTR, Robin Baggins, and Elf of Rivendell screamed at the same time.

"I missed the duckie photo book..." Eiram sniffed and cradled a book in her lap.

Ferder, Mellow, and Eugene Kendall excitedly grabbed all the LEGO comic books Azheim had pilfered.

-----------------------------------

Azheim watched from a hole in the ceiling. "Que sera sera," he said in typical Azheim-fashion, without even knowing what the phrase meant. "C'est la vie. Bonjourno. Omoshiroi. Schmeckt gut." Then he turned serious. "They must be stopped! Those books are mine! Mine! MINE!"

-----------------------------------

"Whatever will be, will be. That's the life. Hello. Interesting. Tastes good." Jared mumbled as he sat in the center of the room, watching everyone.

"What in the world are you talking about?" Eugene Kendall asked. "Politics again?"

"Oh, I'm just translating the different words I keep hearing."

"Hearing? What are you hearing?" Shadowcat asked.

"Like I said..."

"Isn't that Azheim?" Zwall asked.

-----------------------------

"Good bye, Town Hall people." Azheim reached for a button above him.

-----------------------------

Sonuna stood at one of the bookshelves, intent on finding the encyclopedia on quantum physics.

She heard a clang and a heavy thud.

She whipped around to see a sort of a portcullis blocking up the hallway. "What's going on?" She frowned and ran to the portcullis. It didn't budge.

"Yes, that certainly was Azheim," Jared sighed. "We should get out of here."

----------------------------

"I'm dead tired!" groaned Arem and dropped to the ground. It was already pitch dark.

"Me too." Madison replied and sat down against a tree- only to find that the bark of the tree was weak, and they slid off the tree easily. Madison stared at the tree. "Arem, this tree is hollow."

"So?" Arem yawned.

"There's a ladder inside."

TO BE CONTINUED

Elf of Rivendell · Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2004 2:18 am Post subject:

Author's Note: All the characters who appeared in the earlier Chronicles will appear, given that they are active members in the TH currently. I would like to add some of the new people as well, but since I do not have their permission, I can't do that at the time. So... if you weren't included in the earlier Chronicles and want to be included in this one, either post here or PM- PMing prefered.

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A Year Later...

Elf shook her head as she stared at the Word file. She had not chronicled anything for such a long time, and much of what had happened was now lost... forever. She sighed. "I guess it's time I started again." She began to type.

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Chapter... uh... 1.

Not much had changed in the city of Townhall. Citizens had come and gone, a major building was demolished and another, bigger one had taken its place- but other than that, nothing had changed. Nothing at all.

Ever since the War Against Cherry Duckies, no villains bothered the town. Not even a natural disaster.

It was unusual.

In his room, Mellow yawned and crawled under the covers of his bed. For a while, he lay on his back and stared at the familiar LEGO posters plastered on every wall. It was so boring lately- he wished something would happen. Even something bad... so long as it brought SOME excitement.

Just then, his computer blipped. He reached over to find an e-mail alert blinking on the bottom right corner of his screen. He opened it and immediately frowned. "It's something from Elf again... what's she saying this time? I post meaningless documents on the Town Bulletin board? How dare she?" He began to type a reply but thought better of it and lay back on his bed again. It was useless arguing with her anyway. He closed his eyes and rolled onto his side. Soon, he fell asleep.

------
12:00 AM

No one was awake. No lights were on anywhere, and Townhall itself seemed to lie under a thick cover of silence. Nothing moved.

Except for two shadowy figures that slinked through the woods just outside the town.

"They're already asleep. That just goes to show they're simple idiots. We're not going to have any trouble with THEM, Sir."

"You will not question me. Is that clear?"

"But why this town?"

"Shut your mouth! Do you really think it's safe to speak so loud here?"

"But Sir, I don't understand. Why are we doing this?"

"I said, shut your mouth. We're heading back now... we have seen enough for tonight."

TO BE CONTINUED

Elf of Rivendell · Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2004 5:41 am Post subject:

Another Author's Note: This is just a reminder that only a few characters (in general) appear in one chapter. Don't worry, your turns will come. (I plan on alternating between characters.)
__________
Chapter 2

However, they failed to elude one ear- Continental Admiral. His sleep was uneasy that night, and he quickly awoke from his light doze when he heard the rustling outside his window. Grumbling and hitting the light switch, he stumbled to the window and peered outside. Except for the tall stalks of grass outside swaying, nothing was moving.

But there was no wind.

"This certainly is illogical," the Admiral mused as he sat at the window, watching the stalks of grass. The swaying movement slowly diminished into the distance. He mused some more. Suddenly, he abruptly stood up, knocking his chair down in excitement. Scowling grimly, he strode to the wardrobe, flung it open, and pulled the white jacket out- the one covered with medals, which he always wore when he was performing the "functions" of an admiral. Then, snatching his shotgun from the mantelpiece, he dashed out of the house- not noticing that he had forgotten to change his pajama pants.

----------------------

"Someone's coming, Sir. With a gun."

"Wonderful, just what we needed. Why do you have to make so much noise, Fitch?"

"Begging your pardon, Sir, but you were the one that belched."

"Oh, never mind that. Come on, we don't want them to find us."

---------------------

"Charge!" The Admiral barked at the imaginary troops around him. "Leave none alive!"

---------------------

In the house next to the courthouse, Coralfish sighed and slowly opened her eyes. In the distance, she could hear loud footsteps and shouting. The Admiral was at it again. "Third night in a row, Admiral," she muttered as she turned over and closed her eyes again.

If she only knew.

---------------------

The search had turned out to be futile, and the Admiral returned to bed somberly. He was certain there was someone- or multiple someones- out there. "This town needs a good constable, that's what it needs." Exhausted from all the charging, halting, and about-faces he had accomplished outside, he immediately fell into a deep sleep.

---------------------

"Well Sir, I guess that mission was successful."

"Yes, and you nearly spoiled it, Fitch."

"But the belch..."

"SILENCE! Now go summon all the members. We're finally having that meeting. Finally... it's about time."

Elf of Rivendell · Posted: Sat May 01, 2004 12:11 am Post subject:

Chapter 3

"How many times do I have to tell you numbskulls before you understand? The townspeople of Townhall are not fools!"

"Maybe not, Sir. But I still don't get why we're attacking it. Why this town in particular?"

"Because this town is rumored to have the greatest minds in the world, and they're sure to get in the way."

"But those puny landlubbers haven't even mastered space travel..."

"We haven't mastered it either."

"Oh, yes, but surely we know much more than them... how else would you explain why we are on..."

"Who knows? There definitely is more to that town than meets the eye. And if we don't get rid of them quickly, they might spoil all our plans. Understand?

...Good, meeting adjourned. Get to work."

------------------------

It's a good thing Townhall is right near the ocean, Captain Jack Sparrow thought as he glanced at the shore from his ship. If it wasn't, I'd have moved a long time ago. However, even the sea lacked excitement today. There were nearly no waves today because the wind only came in breezes, and no ships were around to plunder. "Dull today, isn't it, mate?" He turned toward the first mate who was sitting next to the bulwarks, blankly staring into the water.

Respectahobbit nodded. "I wish we had some storms for once."

"Storms? ...ahh, even a storm would be better than being bored all the time."

Just as he finished speaking, a small, dark shadow flitted over the deck. Hobbit glanced up. At first, she saw nothing, but as her eyes grew accustomed to the glaring brightness of the sky, she could make out a tiny object zooming through the clouds. "Bird?"

Jack looked up at the sky, and shook his head. "Not an airplane either... Never seen the like before. And it's heading fer the town."

The two shrugged and went back to staring at the horizon for any hapless merchant ships.

-------------------

Pianokitty and Anna K saw the same thing while biking toward the BC Mansion.

"What's that?" Pianokitty wondered aloud, letting one handlebar go to keep the cat from leaping off her shoulder."

"Maybe an airplane?"

Suddenly, the object began to descend rapidly. As it approached, they could see that it was shaped like a large isoceles, with small windows in the sharpest vertex. "That looks... like a... spaceship?" Anna K frowned and began pedaling faster. "I don't like the looks of it."

Before Pianokitty could answer, a blue bolt of light flashed through the air and dove into the ground before her with a deafening crackle. Involuntarily, Pianokitty shrieked and let go of the other handlebar. The bike tipped, and she tumbled onto the ground. Anna's bike screeched to a stop. "Are you ok?"

Pianokitty grimaced and slowly got up, brushing bits of grass off her clothes. "I think so... but did you see THAT?" She pointed to the patch of ground in front of her. The ground had been scorched black, and smoke was rising from what the small tufts of grass that were barely left. "What in the world was that?"

"It came from that spaceship thingy, that's for sure." Anna knelt down to get a better look at the patch of ground.

"Speaking of which, where is it?" Pianokitty looked up at the sky in alarm- but it was gone.

TO BE CONTINUED

Elf of Rivendell · Posted: Sat May 08, 2004 10:21 am Post subject:

Chapter 4

Anna and Pianokitty desperately appealed to Jared, and he immediately began to take measures for defending the city. The Wrestlers were assigned to the task of creating giant laser mortars and defense shields while the Geeks were assigned to the programming. Citizens were advised not to drink from faucets without boiling the water first. Night watches were stationed outside with three-hour work shifts each. But the attack came sooner than expected.

--------------------

As it was every evening, the town was quiet again. MXracer shifted uncomfortably in her bed- it was TOO quiet for her likes. She grabbed the iPod on her nightstand and clamped it to her ears, playing her favorite song.

Then, suddenly, over the loud song, she heard an even louder wail from outside. Sirens. Tearing her headphones off, she stumbled toward the window and shoved the heavy curtains to the side. The alarm light on top of the tall Town Hall was flashing on and off rapidly, bathing the entire town with an eerie red light. Another loud wail penetrated the silence. Racer shuddered. The laser mortars mounted on top of the Town Hall began to point upwards.

"ALL CITIZENS REPORT TO THE TOWN HALL IMMEDIATELY. REPEAT, ALL CITIZENS REPORT TO THE TOWN HALL IMMEDIATELY." An amplified voice rang out from the Town Hall- unmistakably Jared's voice.

MXracer did not stop to think. In a hurry, she pulled a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans on over her pajamas and darted out the door, snatching her blanket as she exited the house.

Outside, she saw several other Townies burst from their houses. Some were dressed, and others were still in their nightclothes. But all of them looked equally frightened.

----------------------

Bright Eyed sprinted toward the Town Hall, tightly clutching a small but bulging satchet with both hands. She heard a low rumbling overhead and glanced upwards. She could just barely make out a vague shadowy form moving over the night sky and slowly approaching. She quickened her steps. Soon, the Town Hall was right in front of her, and she breathlessly leapt in.

Bright was astonished at the small number of Townies that had gathered in the large main room of the Town Hall. She saw Eugene Kendall, the Admiral, Elf, the Pirates, and most of the Politicians- but where were the others? Would they arrive in time? And what was going on?

Just then, Jared came down from the upper level of the Town Hall, his face grim. "They're coming- they'll all be here in less than five minutes. We've done all we can do. Now we can only hope and pray that the other citizens would arrive safely."

TO BE CONTINUED

Elf of Rivendell · Posted: Sat May 15, 2004 7:27 am Post subject:

Chapter 5

Not soon after, Eiram arrived, anxiously concealing her duckies in her backpack. Hawkeye swiped at the quacking bundle, but she neatly sidestepped him and walked over to Jared, who was standing at the foot of the ornate stairs, furiously clacking at his laptop.

"Jared?"

"Hm?" He replied absently.

"What in the world is going on here?" Eiram shifted the weight of her backpack to her other shoulder.

"Come with me." Jared put his laptop down on the table and led Eiram up the ornate stairs. The duckies were intrigued by the sparkling glass railing and attempted to wriggle out of the small opening left by the two zippers, but Eiram hastily zipped the bag up.

The stairs led up to a long hallway with luminescent walls.

"Wow, hi-tech."

"I prefer town halls to have a touch of computerized-ness rather than the old country-hick look."

Eiram nodded, not understanding.

"Here we are," Jared finally said and touched the door at the end of the hallway. It noiselessly slid open, and they entered. Eiram's eyes widened as she saw the interior of the room. Screens and radars covered one wall almost entirely, and two walls were transparent, allowing a full panorama of the town.

"Wouldn't the glass break if something hit it?" Eiram wondered out loud as she approached the giant window.

"Not easily. It's unbreakable glass." Jared replied as he hit a button on the wall. Another loud wail rang out of the Town Hall, and Eiram involuntarily shuddered.

"Watch the town, will you?" Jared said.

Eiram nodded and looked out the window. Several dark shapes swooped over the buildings, occasionally flashing. On the roads, she could make out the Townies hurrying toward the Town Hall. Her heart lurched as she realized that the shapes were slowly closing in on the Townies.

"What are they?"

"I don't know."

"And what do they want?"

"If only we knew. Come on, let's go downstairs. I need to make an announcement."

TO BE CONTINUED