Spav

It had been one of the most sensational trials that had ever been seen at the Old Bailey. A group of men had been charged with the heinous crime of writing fictional football management stories and posting them on the internet with the sole intention of corrupting innocent young minds. The press had labelled these men ‘The FMS Gang’ and they now stood in the dock awaiting the jury’s verdict after a tumultuous trial that had lasted several weeks.

The prosecutor sat at his table with a smarmy look of confidence on his face. He had led the attack on ‘The FMS Gang’ with much gusto and vigour, highlighting the crimes of the men with an enjoyment that made his normally-pathetic little life seem worthwhile. He had detailed the chapters of rampant over-exaggeration, the paragraphs of blatant lies and the chilling secret internet society which saw the men communicate in code as they celebrated their ‘posts’. The public now knew the letters ‘KUTGW’ stood for far more than what they seemed.

The chief defender had painted a very different picture. He told a tale of simple men who enjoyed playing a football management simulation on their computers and then innocently embossed their exploits with scraps of fiction to create stories for the enjoyment of the masses. However he had always fought a holding action and was never able to go on the offensive, for the prosecution had always introduced new examples of the men’s crimes which appeared to sway the jury. The stories of Peacemaker7 and BobBev had been particularly damning to his case.

But now was the time for the verdict. The accused, the prosecutor and the chief defender all rose to their feet as the foreman handed the clerk of the court a slip of paper containing the jury’s decision. It was passed to the judge who briefly flicked his eyes over it and allowed a thin smile to cross his face. “How do you find the defendants? Guilty or not guilty?” asked the judge of the jury foreman. “We find the defendants guilty on all charges”, was the reply. A loud murmur rose from the public gallery, but the judge silenced it with a bang of his gavel. “In that case, I impose the full weight of the law upon these men and invoke the sentence as requested by the prosecution”.

“I sentence you all to twenty-five years transportation to the colony of Australia”.

Peacemaker7

Yay Australia \o/

Spav

I'm glad to see you're looking forward to your 'punishment', PM7.

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Back in the holding cells beneath the Old Bailey after the sentences had been past, the various members of ‘The FMS Gang’ mused on their fate. “Australia!! – goddam it, why don’t they just hang me instead?” moaned Peacemaker7. Clearly he felt that the sentence did not fit the crime. “Shut your whining PM”, snarled Raptor. “You’re one of the main reasons that we are in the situation that we are”. Peacemaker7 and Raptor looked ready to go at each other’s throats, but thankfully they were in adjoining cells and were unlikely to be able to hurt each other.

Sharing the cell with Raptor was BobBev and he sat quietly in the corner. He had not said much during the four weeks that the trail had been ongoing and it was clear that he was suffering from FMS withdrawal symptoms. “I haven’t started a new story for six weeks”, he mumbled to himself. “I always start a new story once a month, but it has been six weeks now”, he continued. And as he had done for the past ten days, Bobbev raised his fingers to an imaginary keyboard and pretended to type. “Another Scottish international management tale – by BobBev”, he whispered to himself.

Across the aisle in another cell Terk and Tyrone the Magazine looked on glumly in Bob’s direction. “The poor fella is going downhill fast” said Terk. “Aye”, agreed Tyrone, “he needs to post soon or he won’t make it to Australia”. It was apt that the pair was sharing a cell together, for they had both attempted to escape the clutches of the police by changing their names in the final couple of weeks before they had been taken into custody. Whilst Terk had hidden under the temporary alias of Goldfoilman, Tyrone had made a permanent switch from Tyrone the Mag and hoped to confuse the authorities by that method. Both had still been arrested all the same.

There were some that were taking it all in their stride. Brian of Nazareth was one of them, as was OMDave. The pair sat in another holding cell discussing what the future may hold in Australia. “I understand the dope is quite decent over there”, said OMDave. “True”, agreed Brian, “and the choice of beer has greatly improved over the past couple of years, so I’ve been told”. Across from them Faramir sat despondently in another cell. “Goddam, where the hell is Bruce Willis and the rescue squad?” muttered the American to himself. “In the movies whenever an American citizen is being unfairly persecuted in a foreign country, Bruce Willis always comes along and saves him. They’ve obviously forgotten about me”, he said.

Only one person didn’t seem to be too unhappy to be heading for Australia and he had an obvious reason to be. Spav was an Australian himself, so he would be returning home. Indeed, several of his co-accused FMSers wondered if he may have worked a deal with the prosecution that allowed him to be sent back home, but then again he was facing exactly the same charges and suffering exactly the same sentence. It was just that the ‘punishment’ would not appear to be as severe in his case.

Dixie Flatline

If I'm not in this story, considering I'm born and bred in Melbourne, then .... *shakes fist*

Seriously, good luck. :thup:

Spav

I've got a list of about 30 regulars that have been contributing here since I joined nearly a year ago. All of them will appear in the story at some time.

Your name is on my hit-list, Dixie!!

BobBev

A spookily accurate depiction of the sad and lonely figure that is an FMS addict Spav - guilty as charged :thup:

Faramir

ROFL- good start Spav

(waiting on Bruce Willis? More likely waiting on a beautiful American lawyer- hopefully played by Sigourney Weaver- to rescue me )

Peacemaker7

Raptor would never say shut your whining to me, he knows better :p

OMDave

Spav, I'm not sure you realize what you're getting yourself into here; do you really think you can handle all the egos in here? I look forward to finding out

Bright start -nothing like a jail cell for new beginnings :thup:

Tyrone the Magazine

Trip to Oz :thup:

Damn I knew I should have changed my name more