What the fuck?!

"You know that's not yours, right?" Michel chuckled and pointed at the ring on John's finger.

"What the fuck?!" John snapped and watched as a few of the nearby civilians in the mall slowly turned to look at him.

"That was my ring," Michel growled and slowly began stomping towards the Gamer. Even with the fresh walking corpse of a recently killed Cabalist, John found that the world didn't shake, it didn't inexplicably start raining lightning and thunder. There were no repercussions or drawbacks for such a blatant display of magic in a public area. It was merely... silent in the mall's cafeteria, and John looked around expecting to find himself in a barrier, or worse... to find that all of the civilians had been Cabalists all along, but it didn't happen. The civilians just continued staring. His mind started racing as soon as Michel began crossing over to him, but not as quickly as his feet did. As soon as he saw Michel's hands start to clench into fists, he turned around and ran. "GIVE IT BACK!"

Michel screamed after John as he booked it back down the way he had come. Again, all the people in the mall simply turned to watch while Michel started to run after him. The sound of the giant's footsteps greatly overpowered John's own footfalls in volume. After a couple of seconds, the Gamer couldn't even hear his own breathing over the sound of Michel catching up on him. His increased Agility didn't count for anything, the zombie that used to be his friend was catching up to him anyways.

Without thinking, John rounded a nearby corner and disappeared into a clothing store. The manager at the front shrieked as John pushed past her and called out after him as he tried to duck between the aisles of shirts and jackets that quickly surrounded him. All at once, all other sound in the mall died off. Michel's footsteps disappeared, the sound of crimson blood dripping from his old friend's chest vanished, and even the store clerk went silent for a moment. The only thing John was left to hear was the rasping, heavy sound of his own breathing, until he started to hold it just to try and bury himself into the silence.

"Do you really think that's going to help?" Michel called out, and his voice echoed again in John's ears... mostly because he was standing right behind John when he said it. The Gamer dashed forward and whipped around just in time to watch as his friend's massive and deathly pale fist smashed into the ground right where he had been hiding with all of the strength that he hadn't been using when he had merely been there to try and capture John. The floor cracked and exploded in a shower of debris and broken pieces of marble, but not a single piece somehow managed to hit John. He shoved back away from Michel as the giant began to loom over him again until he was in between another pair of clothing racks and his back abruptly bumped against something tall and solid. He swallowed hard as he felt the thing behind him move and slowly lean down over John, before a long, slender, feminine hand peeked into the front of his vision.

"Hiding won't accomplish anything," both she and Michel spoke at the same time, their voices merging together in different high and deep tones, before her hand began to curl in the air in front of John. She let out a little giggle in his ear as John found himself trapped between the two of them, and he watched as the woman almost... plucked something out of the air in front of them... and then plunged a knife into his gut.

Sneak Attack Applied!
-72 HP!

You have been poisoned! (120s remaining)
Torpidity rising!

Despite how much he expected there to be a mess when she pulled the knife back out of John's stomach, there was no blood to be seen. A red line appeared on the surface of his skin where she had stabbed him, but like his video game powers implied, there was no mess to be had. He just watched as his skin darkened and turned green around the cut before a sluggish, exhausted feeling began to spread throughout his torso from where he had taken the wound. Again, the woman behind John chuckled, and somehow, her laugh was matched note for note with Michel's own voice.

"Otrov!" he gasped and quickly shoved away from her. His fists went swinging as he tried to dash away again at the one person that John had already known he could beat... but when he hit Michel, his fists passed harmlessly through the giant's form... His old friend dissipated into the air like he was made of nothing more than smoke, and John stumbled forward on weak knees to the spot where he had been standing. He tripped and fell hard on the ground that Michel had broken in front of him... but when he looked back, the floor was spotless again... and Otrov was the only one left glaring at him.

She didn't look like her picture, not even similar to it.

Instead, her hair was now long, red, and luscious. It had wavy, vibrant locks to it and hung down the length of her back so he could completely see the incredibly busty form that she had now, instead of the slender one that John had seen before. Her eyes were dark and grey but focused on him with a singular goal. She had to capture John, and when he found that he couldn't bring his legs beneath himself to stand, John started to think that she might succeed. For some reason... she seemed overly busty, as if to be distracting. Her face wasn't angular or prominent like her picture had shown her to be, it was soft and dainty. It felt like a lie.

Alanah Walsh
Level 18 Rogue
<Otrov>
423/423 HP
RP: -143
Effects: Illusioned, Hidden.

Illusioned: This figure's true form has been obscured by magic and shadows.

"No..." he grunted and watched as Otrov curled her other hand in front of herself... and then a second dagger appeared out of thin air, shimmering as if the weak light in the room had somehow been obscuring it. She took a step towards John, gritting her teeth and raising her arms up for another strike when she suddenly stopped. Her head snapped up to look at something else in the store, and for a moment, John thought that Robyn might have come back...

...and then the store clerk walked right between them. Her brow was furrowed and annoyed as she peeked between each aisle until she got to the one they were standing in and looked right at John and-

No, that was wrong, he realized. She looked right through him. Her head turned this way and that as Otrov giggled mischievously right behind her, but the store clerk didn't hear or see a thing. She just kept walking until she was out of their eyesight and line of fire again. Otrov continued to watch her for a few more seconds until John's arms abruptly failed him as well. He gasped and fell onto his back, his eyes growing heavy and lidded as the timer counted down on his poisoned status effect, but Otrov didn't rush him. She just turned to frown at the Gamer as his own breathing was **** to slow to a tiring pace.

"R-Robyn!" he barely managed a whisper.

"I gotta admit... after seeing you kill Michel, I thought you'd be stronger," she said and then shrugged at him. Her footsteps were nowhere near as loud as Michel's had been, but she loomed over him just as dangerously. She stepped towards John as he tried to **** himself back to his kingdom but... when he did, his chest ached. A sharp tug pulled at his heart as he tried to use his magic, but in his tired state... it felt difficult to use for some reason.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Alanah," he muttered and watched as Otrov's eyes widened sharply.

"How did you-" she started.

"Instant Barrier," John groaned, forcing the words out past his lips in case it might somehow make the spell stronger, and then prayed for the best just as he finally passed out.