And so, the week passed by. Eden, Rose, Kirstie, and the rest of the community continued their daily lives as normal citizens in the morning and donned on their secret identities as Writers in the evening. All was well, except for one thing...Suze hasn't shown up for another meeting ever since the celebration.

 

"What's going on with Suzy? Is he sick?" Eden asked Nanner one rainy day.

 

"I don't know. Maybe he's just been busy." Nanner shook off the droplets of water on her umbrella.

 

"I see. Hopefully, he can come for the next meeting. We'll be having a large-scale collaborative work."

 

"Just say Roleplay."

 

"Shhh! Not so loud. You know how crazy Kirstie gets whenever she hears the word 'Roleplay'? People are writing. We don't want to disrupt them like last time, now do we?"

 

"True, true."

 

The two friends giggled upon remembering the embarrassing acts Kirstie showed last time someone blurted out the word 'Roleplay'. As they remembered the good old days, Essence suddenly burst in.

 

"Terrible news! The Writers League had been ransacked by the Erasers!"

 

Eden leaped to his feet in shock. "What? What happened to the leaders? What about the Writers of the community?"

"The leaders have been killed to set as an example for everyone else! As for the Writers, they...they've been erased!"

 

"No!" The two leaders of PWA closed their eyes in sadness.

 

To be erased did not necessary mean that they were killed. To be erased actually meant having their Creativity Core dispersed. Without the Creativity Core intact, awakened people could not access their Creativity and over time, they will also lose all contact with the natural Creativity. And like a cup of water with a hole in it, once all the contents left the vessel, it became empty.

 

Similarly, if the Writers lose their Creativity, they would become normal people once again. Without their powers, they would be unable to fight back against the Erasers...and especially the Madness Suzerain.

 

Eden grabbed Essence and shook him back and forth, "How? How did the Erasers find out about the Writers League? No one, except for the other Writing communities, should know about their location. No one!"

 

Essence patted Eden's arm for him to let go. "I-I don't know."

Eden, realizing that Essence was on the verge of fainting from all that shaking, released him with an apologetic look. "I'm sorry. I just can't believe how this could happen. Unless....unless there was a traitor."

 

"A traitor? In the Writers League?" Nanner exclaimed with disbelief.

 

Now there was reason for Nanner to be in disbelief. After all, the Writers League was made up of diehard Writers who stressed loyalty amongst Writers and hatred towards the Madness Suzerain. Every member had his or her family destroyed by the crazed despot. There was no one with more hatred towards the tyrant then a member of the Writers League.

 

Eden shook his head with a sigh. "Can't be. The Writers League are hardcore haters of the Madness Suzerain and his Erasers. The traitor must have been someone from the other communities...but who?"

 

"There's thousands of Writers out there. It could be anyone." Essence remarked as he recovered from his lightheadedness.

 

"You're right. We can't worry about this forever. For now, except for Rose and Kirstie, keep this a secret from everyone. We don't want them to panic. However, it's a good thing to increase the security around here. We must not let the Erasers know of our existence."

 

"Yes sir!" Nanner saluted and gave a wry smile.

 

"Alright. Essence, keep me updated about the situation as well as news of the other communities. Nanner, notify all the members to attend. I think it's time we begin the Roleplay."

"You got it, boss." Essence bid farewell to the two leaders and left the premises.

 

Nanner looked at her friend and asked. "So soon? We're not prepared yet. We don't have enough Creativity in our reserves to accomplish this large-scale work."

 

"We'll just have to make do with what we have. We can't prolong this anymore. Once we finished creating this Roleplay, it will serve as a huge blow against the Madness Suzerain. Even if it doesn't kill him, it will severely damage him...enough for the rest of the Writing communities to finish him off."

 

"Alright."

 

..........

 

Some distance away....

 

In a land, tens of miles away from the PWA community, there laid a very large castle. The castle was decked out with the latest security technology. Hundreds of men dressed in black suits patrol the area surrounding the castle. One look and people could see that this castle belonged to a very important person.

 

Suddenly, a bike rushed towards the castle gates. The guards tensed up upon seeing the sudden intruder, however, they relaxed shortly after when they saw the flag attached to the back of the bike. It was the flag of the Madness Suzerain...their flag. With a short nod to each other, the guards closest to the gates ordered the gate guards to open up and let the biker in.

 

As soon as he arrived at the foot of the castle, the biker hopped off of his bike and rushed into the building. With a loud slam, he opened the doors to the throne room where three men leaned over a war table.

 

There was a large man wearing full-body armor and a cape signifying his royalty, a middle-aged man in military uniform with a temperamental air about him, and a scholarly, middle-aged man who looked to be more out of place than the biker. They were the Madness Suzerain and his Right and Left Hands, respectively.

 

They all looked up from their discussions and stared menacingly at the new arrival. The biker gulped nervously before kneeling down to make his report.

 

"Well, what is it? Spit it out!" One of the three men roared. He was a tall, muscular man about forty years of age. A purplish scar ran diagonally across his face from his left eye to the corner of his lower lip.

 

The biker bowed towards the speaker and replied. "Reporting to Madness Suzerain, Wrath Chief, and Lord Tactician. The Erasers have successfully exterminated the Writers League."

 

"Good, good!" The Wrath Chief roared with satisfaction. He glanced towards the other two and proudly thumped his chest. "I told you my Erasers would get things done. You can trust my men to do the dirty things."

 

"Hehe, good for you. Well done!" The armored man patted his shoulders. He looked at the scholar with praise. "You too. As expected of my strategist! You're deductions were on point."

 

The Lord Tactician bowed and modestly remarked, "It's all thanks to the list of contacts you retrieved, my king."

 

"That reminds me. What are you going to do about that small community?" Wrath Chief asked the armored despot.

 

"No worries. I'll think of something." The Madness Suzerain glanced at the messenger, "Why are you still here?"

 

"Reporting! While raiding the Writers League, we discovered that they were constructing a huge weapon to fight against you." The messenger replied as he reached into his bag and pulled out a metallic box. He handed it over to the king who gingerly examined it before handing it to his Left Hand.

 

"Know what this is?" The Madness Suzerain asked his strategist.

 

"That, my king, is a Roleplay...and a good thing it's unfinished. If this was completed, it could prove extremely devastating to us when activated."

 

"Oh? So this is a Roleplay. How can something so small be a threat to us?"

 

"This box isn't what's threatening. It's what's inside that can destroy us all. This box is merely a container that holds a powerful weapon."

 

"A powerful weapon, eh? Hmm, I just thought of what I'm going to do to the PWA community." The Madness Suzerain tapped the war table a couple of times. "Can you modify that device?"

"I understand, sir. You want me to change the contents in this Roleplay so that you can use it against the PWA community, am I right?"

 

"Haha, as expected of my tactician."

 

"As you wish, my king." The Lord Tactician bowed once again before leaving the room with the Roleplay device.

 

The Madness Suzerain dismissed the messenger with a wave of his hand. He glanced at the Wrath Chief and ordered. "Our strategist has deduced the location of another Writing community. Here! That's where the Writer's Block resides. Kill their leaders and erase them all."

 

"I understand, my king!" The Wrath Chief saluted, his eyes glimmered with bloodlust.

 

"Good! You're dismissed!"

 

"Yes sir!"

 

As the Wrath Chief left the room, the Madness Suzerain surveyed his war table with a quick once-over. He smiled with contentment and reached over across the map to where a wooden sculpture of a closed book stood. With a flick of his finger, he knocked the wooden book down.

 

"Checkmate!"