Near some heroes

The stairwell leads up to a cave beyond the acropolis walls. The entrance of which seems to disappear into the rocks the moment you step out; game mechanics to stop heros from skipping to the end of the catacombs.

You cast your gaze on the crumbling grey walls of the fallen city. You spent your whole existence in there. And much as you hate the thought of going back in, you lack the supplies for a long journey. But then fate takes a pleasant turn. As you're counting your gold and considering what exactly you might need, you hear the unmistakable sound of heroes approaching. It seems that they can't help but loudly rant and rave about useless babble wherever they go.

"Yo dude, I'm telling you he had a skeleton!" one voice says.

"So, a NPC and a skeleton kicked yo ass and stole da gem you spent fiddy bucks on? What kinda lame ass shit is dat?" another voice says.

"I didn't even think you could die in a city?" a third voice says.

Peaking out from behind the rubble, you see the rogue that you originally swindled and killed, carrying a LvL 1 bow. You suppress the urge to snicker. He's accompanied by a fighter and a barbarian, each carrying a long two-handed sword. By the looks, they've just left Zek'lel on an adventure. Where they're going, you don't care. You just know your looking at an opportunity.

"No, heroes can't kill each other. But he was a damn NPC shopkeeper," the rogue says emphatically.

"Dominate," you whisper.

"An now da shopkeeper's gone? Yeah, right. Gaaah! What da fuck was that?" the barbarian stutters, nearly falling over.

He immediately stands back up straight, slinging his head from side to side.

"Somebody just tried ta cast a spell on me!" he yells.

"Over there!" the rogue yells, pointing your way.

Well shit! The light armor and dark terrain helped, but a rogue or a theif you are not. With no proficiency in hide or concealment, you're easily detected.

A trio of infernal fireballs suddenly plummets their way, followed by a crossbow bolt. The two heavy hitters take the brunt of the damage and keep on coming. Then a pair of skeletons rise up to greet them. The barbarian performs a great cleave, cutting down Bones Jr. in one fell swoop. The fighter has a tougher time.

"DOMINATE!" you cast again.

When the spell fails, you cast Dark Orb for the first time. A swirling, smoking darkness takes form in your hand. It radiates nothing but pure evil and looking at it feels like staring straight at **** itself. From within, you can hear distant screams of agony. Slowly it grows in your hand, soon reaching the size of a softball.

"Master!" Abby shouts, jolting you back to the situation at hand.

You haul off and sling the ball of dark energy. It strikes the barbarian square in the chest. There is an explosion of onyx lightning, which travels out from the point of impact. He immediately drops to his knees and clutches his chest as a sizable chunk of his HP is eaten away. You immediately hit him with another one, knocking his health into the red and causing Fear.

"DOMINATE!" you cast on the warrior as he dispatches your skeleton.

And like that, he's yours!

"Tackle the barbarian and tie him up," you command, throwing him some rope.

Crippled by Fear, the barbarian is running away when the fighter tackles him.

"Get da fuck off me you sausage chaser!" he screams as the fighter pins him.

You have your crossbow skeleton run over to help him. Meanwhile the Boneses, having been respawned, return with a struggling rogue between them; his arms pinned behind his back.

"What the fuck! Who are-," he begins and then looks up at you. "YOU! You're that fucking shopkeeper!"

"Watch your tone, you filth! This is Lord Vader," Abby says, slapping him across the face for 1 HP of damag.

You run the back of two fingers gently across her cheek, "While I do share your sentiment, this man deserves our thanks. If not for him, I'd never have escaped that shop. In recognition of that, I'll give you one chance to join me."

"Join a glitching NPC? Let me the fuck go so I can kick your ass," he screams.

"Strip him of his gear," you order.

"What? Fuck! No, don't you touch me you fucking cunt!" he screams as Abby relieves him of every piece of gear he has. "Hey, give that back!"

"Now release him," you say.

"Mother fucker!" he yells and comes at you.

You summon a Dark Orb and crush it into his face. He goes down screaming and as you hoped, you can feel XP streaming into you. It seems the game really doesn't recognize you as an NPC anymore!

In short order, you strip the barbarian of his supplies and gear as well.

"Da game ain't s'posed to work this way," he yells angrily.

"I said that once. But Lord Vader has shown me the truth. The game is flawed. Heroes are the true villains," Abby says, seductively placing a hand on your waist as she walks around from behind you.

You dispatch him with a Dark Orb as well. Then you order the fighter to drop all of his belongings as well.

"C'mon guys. Why are you doing this? Heh, heh... I'm not much use to you without my gear," he says, standing nearly naked before you.

"I'm afraid you're just more valuable to me as XP. Now, RELEASE!" you command.

The purple haze that had come to cloud the whites of his eyes suddenly clears up. He looks at you with fear, FEAR on his face. And then a crossbow bolt catches him in the side, followed by a mace to the center of the back, and finally a Dark Orb to the face finishes him off.

The armor and two-handed swords you give to Bones and Bones Jr. while returning Abby's mace to her. What remains is mostly run of the mill stuff. At least they were carrying plenty of rations. As an NPC, rations would just sporadically appear in your inventory. But as a free agent, well you're hungry.

You have the skeletons keep watch while you and Abby eat and discuss strategy.

"We should probably cover as much ground as possible. I'm sure those cretin have respawned and are looking for equipment and allies to bring after us," Abby assesses the situation.

"That's the problem, isn't it? No matter how many times I kill my enemies, they'll always come back," you grumble.

"That's the way the game's set up. As far as I know, only the admins have the power to kill a hero forever. They call it perma-****," Abby says.

"I must find a way to posses this power," you say, clasping your fist in the air.

"But Lord Vader, I don't see how that's possible. You're powerful but admins are practically gods," Abby says, almost apologetically.