Well we're back with another community project. This is a collection of one shots we have assigned to each other. Characters, prompts and settings were all open for challenges and each piece of writing that follows it the product of these prompts.

The prompts themselves were varied; some only gave a character name with a setting and others had genres or specific stipulations listed. In the end this is what each author came up with. Did they succeed in meeting the challenge? Well that's between the author and challenger. This is just the fruits of our labor. Enjoy!

Author: AviarTheAssassin
Challenger: Hootie Hoot

Good Business

Stealth Elf anxiously paced around the room she was in. The room was... an oddity to say the least. It was crafted inside an air vent. It was dark, cramped, claustrophobic, yet seemed to be able to hold at least ten people at once. The only light source came from an exit vent blocked by a spinning fan. A worn-down table was placed in the room, covered with maps, blueprints, equipment, and other documents. One of the layouts of Kaos' lair had a phrase scribbled in black marker on it, as if it were written by a madman. IT'S A TRAP

The ninja, whose clothing was tattered slightly, had a shaky breath. The air coiled around her bare skin, filling her with it's cold temperature and consequently caused her to shiver. Continuing to pace around the metal-surfaced room, she began to grow impatient until the sound of a footstep made its way into her pointed ears. She stopped walking and carefully drew both of her knives and entered a battle-ready stance. She looked around, unable to see a lot of the room due to lack of light. Stealth Elf heard a gentle exhale, and whipped around.

Her knife was met was a cross-slash of two swords, a familiar face behind it. The elf's knife was unable to take the force and the pair of swords made it to her neck, but stopped right as it touched her skin. A smiling, brown-eyed, brown-haired face greeted her. "It appears you're getting rusty, Stealth," the voice said with a chuckle. The ninja responded by gesturing her head downward. Aviar looked in said direction, and was greeted by the sight of her other knife at his crotch. He lowered his swords and she her knife. "Goddamn ninjas," Aviar scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"What the hell happened out there!?" Stealth Elf harshly demanded, either ignoring or not noticing his remark. "The Receiver is dead, all the other portal masters are dead, and most of the skylanders are either dead or captured! YOU created the plan of attack, so why did this happen!"

"I don't know!" Aviar quickly interjected, his voice almost as loud as hers. "I didn't think Kaos could have got ahead of me. Guess what? He did! NOTHING could have prepared us for that, so the blame falls on nobody."

Aviar sheathed his swords speedily and jogged over the exit vent, and turned around to Stealth Elf. "We have a mission: Stop Kaos at all costs. We are still alive, so we have to carry out this mission no matter what, we cannot go back." he declared, staring Stealth Elf down with determination. "So are you with me, or without me?"

The ninja elf stood for a while, seemingly unresponsive to the world around her. Her blank white eyes looked toward the ground, apparently deep in thought. Eventually she sighed and looked back at Aviar. "Very well, I'll help you."

A reflexive grin seemed to appear to Aviar's face, but due to the lack of light and his immediate movement of turning around, she really couldn't be sure.

X

The ironic duo of an assassin and ninja entered a very large room with a very large doorway. The room was coated in red velvet with golden linings, the ceiling covered with ancient-looking paintings. There was a red carpet with gold lining and white marble flooring on the sides of the room. At the end were three large steps and a velvet throne, which was empty. The room was rather empty itself, almost too inviting.

Aviar and Stealth Elf gently walked up to the stairs. The green elf stopped at the base of the stairs while the black-clad portal master continued up to the throne to examine it. "Impossible..." Stealth Elf muttered. "but this is the throne room! This was hell last time we were here! Why is it empty? And... clean..." she proclaimed and asked. Stealth Elf gently strolled back a small bit to look at the large, open doorway.

Completely unexpected and out of the blue, a wall, identical to the others in the room, dropped down, enclosing the space with an extremely loud thud. "Aviar!" she called, backing away slowly. "It's a trap!"

"This is nothing personal..." the voice of Aviar came from behind her. The ninja, like lightning, drew her knives and spun around to dash at the assassin, but an arrow piercing through her chest halted her advances. She dropped to her knees, grasping at the arrow in her heart. Collapsing to the floor, she gazed toward Aviar, her vision fading. He was holding a bow, but quickly discarded it, Kaos walking up to his side.

Drawing his right sword, Aviar walked up to the lying Stealth Elf, green blood flowing from the arrow wound, drenching the carpet. Kaos joined him at Aviar's side while he raised his sword with both hands. "...just... good business..." the traitor finished as he let down his blade right onto Stealth Elf's neck.