Kae eyed the whipmistress. He eyed her weapon.

“Uh… I’m afraid I’ve just never done that before,” he confessed.

She arched one eyebrow, whip coiled in one hand, both hands on her hips. “What? Didn’t you have a sister, growing up?”

He shook his head. “And not many female friends until middle school. Just a lot of guys in the old neighborhood, and we never really tried skipping rope. Especially not with a… er… with one of those things.”

The woman held her weapon up between them and shook it once toward him. “God, Andrew, it’s not a bad word. This is a whip. Come on, say it. Whiii-ip.”

He crossed his arms and tried to mimic her “you’ve got to be kidding” look. “This is just the tiniest bit juvenile.”

“So’s that,” she replied. “Honestly, you’re worst in here than you are out there.” She made a vague gesture which could have been indicating any number of things, including the buildings, the canal and a few of the other players. But Andrew – Kae – knew she was just indicating the real world, a place where both of them worked at the same college. She was an education teacher, while he worked in admissions.

She was one of a small group of close friends he and Meghan had from their respective jobs. She was also a lot better in small doses and had a singular lack of respect for people’s personal space or boundaries that only seemed worse when the world she was interacting with wasn’t real.

“Sorry, but I really didn’t… that is… this was your idea,” he said, trying desperately to find a good way of putting her off without being rude. His eyes scanned the tide of players filling the streets. There had to be SOMEONE out there he knew…

Leaning on the bank of the river, her arms holding her up and bracing her against the flow of the water, Hijinx grinned at Kae's unfortunate situation. A minute ago, she had been swimming, taking to the water like a dolphin and letting her dress flow like a tail behind her. The long arm was about to dive back under, but then she thought she heard something interesting.

“This is a whip. Come on, say it. Whiii-ip.”

Her interests officially captured, she had decided to swim over and poke her head out, wanting to see what was happening. After seeing kae and his lady friend, she was on to new ideas, wondering what the best way to make this more fun for everyone would be.

"Ahem..."

Clearing her throat, Jinx brushed her wet hair out of her eyes and to the other side, tilting her head playfully and wishing she had left it tied back even as she smiled.

"Not that I mind sharing, Kae, but if you really want to see other women, you should at least be willing to have a little fun with it. Besides, she doesn't look like she'll hurt you too much, unless you ask her to."

Giving them both a wink, she laughed and waited. No way was she about to get out now that she had gotten comfortable. Not unless something fun was going to happen soon.

As soon as he heard the throat-clearing from the direction of the water, there was a sinking feeling that he couldn’t escape. Oh no… As Jinx spoke, he could just SEE where this was going. These two might get along famously, and it didn’t bode well for anyone in their way.

The whipmistress turned and looked quizzically at Jinx, forgoing any consideration as to the rudeness of staring as she studied what was visible at the edge of the water. Then she grinned.

“Well. The real fun is in getting them to ask.” She said it with the sort of thoughtful tone one might expect to hear from someone giving a lecture on a favored topic, not discussing a… a whip, he forced himself to say mentally. “You know, if-“

Sensing danger, Kae interposed himself between the two of them and said hurriedly, “Uh, Kelly, let me introduce Lady Jinx. Lady Jinx, Kelly. Lady Jinx’s shown me some of the more… interesting ways to pass time in the game. Not THAT way,” he added savagely as Kelly burst into laughter. Elbowing her gently he said, “I won’t be able to win around either of you, will I?”

Now this could get interesting, and fast. Beckoning to the whipmistress, she extended her arms and lifted herself out of the water a little, so she was only in up to her waist. Then someone who had been walking by turned, looked, and walked into a wall. That was all it took to form an idea she was sure would make Kae turn five shades of red.

"No reason to be shy, Kae! Maybe if your friend did something for you, first, you would go along with it more easily."

Leaning forward a little more, she attempted to mimick a photo of a swimsuit model she had seen, complimenting it with a smile and a wink. Hoping his friend would get the idea, she let out a laugh.

"Come strike a pose with me, Kae can take pictures for you to show your friends! Maybe if we're lucky, someone will put one up on the boards and we'll be famous. A girl could always use a fan club, you know!"

Getting out of the river, Jinx walked over to the nearest bridge rail. One light hop and she was sitting on it, legs crossed and leaning back on her hands, attempting to gather as much attention as possible.

You know, at this point it shouldn't be a surprise, WHY was it still a surprise? He made himself an easy target, and he knew it, and yet....

Kelly seemed to see in Jinx a kindred spirit, or perhaps just an avenue for having a bit of fun. Grinning, she walked over and hopped up into the railing next to the Long Arm. She crouched there, one leg under her and one stretched to the side along the curve of the railing for balance.

"You know, I never knew you could swim in the river," she said. "And Kae, I blame you if the picture turns out poorly."

For his part, Kae was VERY glad his real-life blush wasn't translatable through the VR hardware. One of them was soaked from a swim, the other's form was leaning forward at an angle that showed off... large tracts of land.

The two ladies were drawing a bit of a crowd, and Kae reluctantly positioned himself at the forefront to grab the screenshot.

"You ladies got a name in mind for the fan club, or shall I name it as I see fit?" he inquired as he centered the image and grabbed the shot.

Three ornate, gilded lines passing in quick succession. That’s how she was introduced to the river town of Mac Anu. For someone who had played games, the graphics would have been notably incredible. For V, they were unreal. That technology could produce something that looked this good was simply amazing. More than looks, though, she could actually feel things: the thick, gauzey material that wrapped around her body as she’d conceived it; the lacing of the sandals against her feet; the chill of the soft breeze against her exposed skin as it contrasted the warmth of an intense setting sun; the tickle on her back as her hair danced with that same breeze. There were no words for it—it was as though her very body was convinced that this digital world with its fantastic designs had become reality.

Something told her to move from the gate, and she complied, stepping forward without even realizing she’d pushed the controls to do so. Wait, she thought, pulling the helmet’s visor up in one of the most unnatural gestures she could have made. Nausea swept over in a wave, and she let the visor fall back into its place. Why had that been so strange? Stepping forward meant she had to push the button, but she didn’t ever remember pushing it. Yet lifting her real leg off the floor in front of her felt entirely unnatural – like it wasn’t supposed to be moved. Is this what they meant by “immersive?”

A commotion before her distracted her from her curiosity at the oddity of the helmet she wore, and she moved towards the bridge. There, posed as pinup models on the railing, were two women. On the right, a soaked darker woman wore a purple garment that didn’t leave much to the imagination, what with how it clung to her form, while on the left another woman sat, leaning forward to show off her particular endowment. Both seemed involved in some kind of playful banter with one of the players at the front of the crowd, who was…taking screenshots? Vanity at its finest, to be sure. There was no way to tell how well they would turn out, though with how stiff the man with the ‘camera’ was, it was likely that he was frozen by the awkwardness of it. Probably one of those religious types who didn’t know what was good for ‘em.

“Hey kid,” she said, stepping forward and grabbing his attention before either of the two models could answer his question, “take a step to the left and lean in a bit for a better angle. If you take it now, I can almost guarantee you’ll have a bad shot.”

There were a lot of voices around them, yes there were –voices commenting on the situation (strange), on the girls (hot) on himself (lucky? He supposed it depended on your point of view), but the one directly addressing him stopped him cold. A glance to one side showed the speaker looked like she could be as at home in the little club that was gathering as anyone – at least as far as outfits were concerned. It seemed to be a common theme, either leaving very little to the imagination, or covering enough that the imagination was free to run as wild as it dared, and…

Kae wrenched his gaze to the front again (as much as THAT helped), moving under the guise of following the newcomer’s suggestions and mentally hand-slapping himself as he did so for allowing the distraction – and in front of a coworker no less. “Thank you, ma’am,” he said. To his surprise (and he shouldn’t be surprised, knowing as intimately as he did his utter lack of artistic vision) the move turned out to frame the image much better. He scrolled the view in for a zoom shot, saved it then took another more sweeping one. “Actually, that really helped.” He raised his voice a little then to alert the two on the railing that “I got it!” before asking, “You take a lot of portrait screenshots in here? Or-”

A voice Kae didn’t recognize, but one which was emphatically and blessedly not female, broke in on his question with its own. “Hey, what do you think you’re doing?”

A glance over showed a Heavy Blade in green-tinged full plate armor glaring at the scene. “Git!” he growled at them, the way one might to disobedient and slow children. “What’re you thinking, this ain’t that kind of game. Take it out of here.”

Cops. It seemed like no matter what happened, the administration of the world would somehow be ready to step in and shut down the fun. Granted, she was new to the game, and there was no doubt that her own outfit was pushing whatever lines existed to not be crossed in terms of decency. Even despite the seductress on the front of the game box that was a cheap ploy to get the male gamer population to look at the game for those extra five seconds, take that kind of thing into the actual game, and it made sense that they’d shut it down. How hypocritical of them.

The boy had asked how she knew so much about photography, and she stepped forward—though still not used to how pushing the buttons to do so felt more natural than picking up her leg—touching his shoulder as the crowd began to slowly disperse.

“Hey, if you wanna continue the shoot, and our conversation for that matter, we should probably head somewhere a bit more inconspicuous,” her words were hushed, though there was little doubt he’d probably convey the message to his two models. If she was right, they’d likely agree to it. The question was whether or not the trio knew anywhere that would provide the amount of seclusion they’d need. God, this brought back memories, only now she was on the other side of the camera.

And she’d just had to open her damn mouth. If this continued, these three would get a rare sneak peak into the past of Victoria Strauss. Truth was that she’d dated a lot of guys in high school, and one of them had been a photography buff. Guy hadn’t been that great in bed, but he did know his way around a camera, which was the main reason their relationship had lasted more than a month. If she had her facts straight, the countless hours she’d spent exposing herself to his aperture in between encounters and school had landed him in a pretty prestigious photography school, and had taught her quite a bit about photography as well. But she didn’t have any of those pictures anymore.

She inhaled and let out a deep sigh, which translated over to the game, her brief trip down Memory Lane leaving her with nothing but the familiar sorrow to which she had become numb. Funny how things worked out.

“So how ‘bout it?”

Either this guard had the worst timing or he had been waiting to interfere from the start. It didn't really matter, he was here now. Well, she would just have to make the most of it, wouldn't she? Offering the guard as sweet and innocent a smile as she could muster, she hopped off the rail and walked over to Kae, adding a little sway to her step on purpose.

"I thought we looked pretty good up there, but I guess he doesn't approve. Lets go find something else to do, Kae! Would you mind getting the other side for me, miss?"

Before he could protest, Jinx hooked an arm under his and turned to face his friend at the bridge.

"Are you coming along too? Maybe you could talk him into doing what you two were discussing when I arrived. You never know, we might just embarass him enough to make it happen."

She had thrown a little music into the end of her last sentence to make her point clear. The guard didn't like this much better, but there wasn't much else he could do unless they started breaking some rules. Looking back at Kae, she grinned her usual way.

"Come on, we'll go randomize the key words and see where we end up, it'll be fun!"

Beckoning the whip mistress over, Jinx hummed a cheerful melody and waited. Once their new friend got hold of him, they were going to drag Kae right to the Gate, taking the most public route they could find.

“Actually, I’m jettin’” the whipmistress said regretfully. As the guard’s attention followed the sway of Jinx’s hips, the woman still perched on the railing flipped her middle finger briefly at him, then sighed theatrically. “It may be overrated, but I’ve got a schedule to keep. Catch me some other time though?” She grinned from Kae, who would probably have sagged all the way to the ground out of sheer embarrassment if Jinx hadn’t already hooked his arm, to Jinx herself, then waved and faded out.

Trying to put the whole scene behind him, Kae forced himself to straighten up and talk like he was completely in control. “Random huh? Why not, Lady Jinx? Even if it’s *doesn’t* turn out fun, I bet it won’t be boring either.” He grinned. He couldn’t deny that hanging out with Lady Jinx always did end up being fun, no matter how unlikely that seemed given some of the situations.

Beckoning to the woman who’d helped out with the screenshot as they started for the chaos gate, he said, “You’re coming too, right? The more the merrier.” He felt a little guilty at getting interrupted before answering her earlier question and besides, usually it WAS true.

If nothing else, making new friends – you know, not the sort who start out friendship by attacking – couldn’t be bad.

“Uh, what?” Venus replied. Some exchange between the awkward pervert and the two ‘women.’ One of them had left—the one who’d been leaning forward—while the other had attached herself to the man’s arm. It was…strange, to say the least. A little too impulsive for her tastes. Besides, she was still getting used to this whole thing; being there while not actually being there was still disorienting, no matter how it was spun. She would have readily admitted to being a newbie at the game—hell, she didn’t even know if she was going to keep playing after this. Once Giles got back, she’d likely have to pack up and head out.

Still, if they were going somewhere, it was very possible that she’d be able to get a better picture of just what this headset was capable of. Already she was impressed, but if this was going to be a ‘business investment,’ then she needed to be sure.

“Sure, I guess,” she finally settled on, looking at the odd couple that had formed in front of her. She’d only just met both of them, and yet they were asking her to tag along with her adventure. A sigh escaped her barely-parted lips. This was kind of what she’d been trying to avoid. She was a professional at getting involved without actually getting involved; thus was the nature of prostitution. Giles was the closest thing she had to a friend in her life, and even then it was more exclusively a business arrangement than not. He was happy to accommodate that, though, so the threat- no, the possibility of separation was ever-present. If one week he didn’t show up to pick her up, life would go on just as it did, wouldn’t it? Curse her introspection.

“So, where are we headed? I’m, uh, I literally just started playing, and I don’t know how any of this works.” Of course, she couldn’t let on that she wasn’t actually keeping herself detached. Playing friendly would be the way to go, though this was business of a very different sort than she was used to. Sleeping with strangers was somehow easier in her eyes than acting like she cared. Catching the irony of the situation, she let out a soft chuckle, which she promptly played off as nervous laughter.

Perfect.

If there was one thing Hijinx was proud of, it was he ability to get people involved without them wanting to get involved. To be fair, people who can recognize trouble and walk right into it probably have it coming, right? Still, she had to respect people who weren't afraid to take a little risk. That being thought, they arrived at the chaos gate, where-in Hijinx did spin the wheel of fate and allow the game to select the field. Lo and behold, the rings did descend from the very air around them, and they were spirited away to another world, one where clouds hung heavy above them, and the horizon was blackened over a long dead landscape of gnarled trees which seemed to claw out at the world around them. In all of this, there was naught for Jinx to think nor say but...

"Bleh..."

She was hoping it had the decency to send her somewhere with some buildings or something, but this? It was like being sent to Stephen King's back yard, but with more imagination. Well, as long as they were playing the cheesy movie scenario, why shouldn't she have fun too? It was then she suddenly wished she had a chainsaw to strap to her arm and a legion of undead beasties to battle. Oh well, best foot forward, they always say. Putting a hand on her hip and supporting her chin with the other, she cocked her head a little.

"Well, this isn't so bad. A few flowers, maybe a flamingo, it'll look good as new, right? At least we'll be able to see the portals a mile off, in any case."

The last part made her a little disappointed. Maybe one of the nice folks that made the level had a little innovation in them and hid the things underground, instead.

After the demure but fairly plentiful light of Mac Anu, it was a bit of a surprise to appear in the half-light of the overcast field. They’d warped in on the edge of a thick but obviously dead forest on one side, with the others being mostly open and obviously dead. Despite the lack of foliage, the tree crowns seemed impenetrably thick.

“Flamingos eh? Was this what you were aiming for, Lady Jinx?” he asked, scrubbing a hand through his hair and looking around at the doleful landscape. “Kinda… hang on.”

From wherever his character kept his possessions (he didn’t really want to think about it) he pulled a small flute. He played a quick little tune, the stowed the item away again. A moment later, there was a subtle shaking of the ground, then a huge form came galloping up. In the dim light, it charged straight at the group. The very shadows seemed to knit around it as it charged straight for them and bowled into the Blademaster.

The charge knocked Kae to the ground, though he was laughing. Scrambling back to his feet, he hugged the beast as best as he was able, given its size. It returned the greeting by licking him, trying to get his cheek but pretty much getting the entire side of his face.

“Hey, Meteora,” he said. “Mind helping us get around this place?”

For the first time, the grunty seemed to notice the other people on the field. He looked from one to the other of the ladies, looking for any invitation to offer enthusiastic greeting. Then he looked at the forest.

And cowered.

Seeing a large animal that most closely resembled a pig try to cower like a frightened puppy was somewhere between amusing and just plain sad. Still, it was said animals had good instincts.

“Huh,” he said. “Heck of a place for pictures, huh buddy. Hey, I’m thinking something might be there, in the trees. Want to…” he turned toward Lady Jinx and the other Long Arm for a decision on which direction they’d like to explore.

It was three golden rings that had brought them there. Three golden rings so ornately plain that it seemed criminal to travel by any other means in this false world. Venus had been dragged along almost against her will, towards the spinning sideways puddle at the town’s center where she’d first appeared. A few random words later, and the three of them were left here. To be honest, it kind of reminded her of the woods behind her elementary school where she had never been allowed to go. Woods that, were it not for the game, she would likely never have seen again.

They were dark to a fault, and the cool damp air that danced across her much exposed skin pointed to sometime in late March. These trees were bare and cragged, like the lonely leftovers of a bleak winter. It was strange, though, that the ground was so dry and uncovered. The dust of the earth lay still without wind to make it dance somberly through the trees, and for a moment, the girl could only stand in awe at the game. She could actually feel the moisture in the air! This was incredible! Goosebumps ran over her form, and she subconsciously arched her back off the couch. At the very least, she’d have to try out the other program that Giles had installed on it. If that was even half as effective as this World she was now in, she’d have to give him a couple nights for free.

Only when a cloud of dust erupted from beneath the feet of a giant pig-cow was V pulled back to the present. Coughing instinctively and fanning the dust away, she stepped towards the man who’d summoned the now cowering thing. The kid then commented on the locale, and Venus could only respond.

“I’ve been nude in worse,” she said, which was true. Granted, judging by the stares of the two who’d dragged her along, it was probably more than either of them had really wanted to know. But just standing around was no way to find a place for a screenshot. If this kid was really here for some eye candy, then they’d have to find a better set. It was too gray here, and the lighting too even.

“Come on,” she said, walking forward and motioning the other model and photographer to follow, “there’s gotta be a better place for a photo shoot than this somewhere nearby.”

Tilting her head and resting her chin on her hand, she crossed the other arm over her chest, clearly thinking hard about this one. If Kae wanted to climb a tree and try to strike a pose, why not? She probably would have gone for it, accept she caught sight of something off in the distance. They would have to investigate immediately, but looking at the grunty, she couldn't help but get an idea or two.

"Forget the pictures for now, I want to see what that is over there!"

Pointing past a slightly more dispersed grove of trees, something was moving, and it had managed to capture some of Jinx's attention. Not enough to keep the long arm from embarrassing Kae some more, however. Looking at the grunty again, she smirked and rested her chin on her palm, the other arm crossing her chest.

"But there's no way we can all sit separately on that grunty, is there? I'm afraid somebody is going to have to sit on someone else's lap! I vote for the new girl!"

Somewhat confused by the statement, Kae looked at Hijinx quizzically before responding.

"You wanna sit in the new girl's lap?"

Venus, incredulous, also had a response of her own.

"Whoa now, you don't expect me to actually get on that thing, do you?" she asked almost in disbelief.

Blinking at the two of them, Jinx snickered a little to herself. This could be way more fun than she thought.

"Of course not, that would just be silly. The new girl won't be on the grunty, she'll be sitting on you, Kae!"

Venus looked to the boy disinterestedly, shrugging in consent with a sigh. "I usually try to avoid the perverts when I'm off the clock, but if I must, I must."

Kae sighed , followed by "You two ride. I'll walk. A bit more proper that way."

"He got a thing for girl-on-girl action or something?" Venus asked behind her hand to Hijinx, though still loud enough for the boy to hear.

Kae ignored that part as well as he could, while Jinx whistled innocently and hopped onto the grunty, riding side saddle with one leg crossed over the other. Giving the animal a pat and scratching it behind his ears, Hijinx beckoned Venus over. Reluctantly climbing into the saddle, she said "Um, I still don't appreciate the idea of riding this thing..."

Laughing, the long arm leaned over the animal's head and pointed, while kae marched alongside them. A minute or so later, they were staring at the entrance to a dungeon, and Jinx was finally starting to have reservations. Mostly because the dungeon on this particular field as a giant, half buried head, with two pairs of wagging fingers sticking out of the ground to the sides of the face.

"No."

Crossing her arms, she pointedly faced the other direction and answered the flash mail she had just received. Scanning it quickly, she turned back around with a pained smile.

"A funny thing happened just now! We're going inside!"

Closing her eyes, Hijinx walked as gracefully as possible into the darkness of the mouth, until her foot landed on something soft, and squishy... and warm. A shiver ran straight up her spine, and she knew immediately she wasn't going to be happy in a second. Opening an eye slowly, she looked around, then down, her head staying as still as possible. The dungeon wasn't just the average stone walled ruin or a forest this time. It was a big, slimy, hallway, with flesh floors and weird lung things for walls. Throwing her head back, Jinx yelled at the top of her lungs.

"KAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Girls in flocks could be troublesome. It was like they shared these secret thoughts through telepathy which men couldn’t quite receive, and it almost always resulted in some form of teasing. Knowing when to just shut up and let it go was a skill in and of itself. Meteora was perfectly content with the situation, since Kae was walking alongside his head and he was out of the pen.

On the bright side, it seemed whatever he thought he’d seen in the thicket had been his imagination. On a less certain note, it seemed they were heading to the dungeon. Like… now.

The dungeon entrance was a bit of a shocker – a mostly-buried humanoid. A giant of some sort. It didn’t look happy, but it left its mouth open for the little group to wander inside.

The interior, as one might expect when walking into a stranger’s mouth, was rather fleshy and pulse-y and somewhat sticky – Kae could hear the sound of his boots as they peeled up from the floor with each step. All as seemed reasonable to him. But apparently, not to everyone. In about the time it took him to assess the place, there came a familiar voice shouting his name in a way that DEMANDED attention.

Alarmed at the scream, Kae stopped and turned around. “What? Lady Jinx?”

Her reply was somewhat difficult for him to discern, mostly because it continued in the same tone and volume as the initial scream, but the gist of it was clear. Lady Jinx didn’t like this dungeon. She wanted it dead.

He wasn’t sure that was even possible.

“I’m… uh… not sure I can… you sure you even want me to try something like that?”

The answer was a good deal quieter this time, but no less emphatic for that. She gestured toward the floor, which was rising and falling gently with what he assumed was the thing’s breathing. “It’s alive,” she said succinctly. “Clearly it can die.”

He started to protest again, thinking about what he would likely do if something stabbed inside HIS mouth with something small and sharp, but thought the better of it. This, again, would be one of those times when it was wiser just to go along and let the proof be in the pudding… or the put-ing.

Shrugging, he grabbed the hilt in both hands and stabbed downward, into the ground. And again, the reaction was about what one could expect. The ground actually roiled underfoot, causing Kae to cling to his sword for the moment as his only means of staying upright. The Grunty’s weight and low center of gravity kept it steadier, but it too was pitched around a little and stumbled a few steps to the right, nearly brushing into one of the walls.

After a few seconds, the motion quieted down again. Cautiously Kae looked around… but nothing much had changed. A glance at Jinx suggested she was NOT satisfied with that attempt.

That left him one place to look for help – the Long Arm. And he hoped she could read the plea for help that he was trying to make with his expression, because he had a sinking feeling saying it out loud would be… unwise.

No photo. Okay, well that...changed things. She wasn't about to participate in some fantasy LARP session: an odd experience with one of her shorter-lived boyfriends proved just how not fun those things were. If either of the other two players expected her to actually participate in some kind of fighting? No, she would have none of it.

Still, curiosity managed to get the better of the girl, and while riding a giant pig-cow didn't seem like fun, it probably beat walking. Granted, nothing at all could have prepared her for the giant head in the ground. Hesitantly, Venus eyed the unfortunate gargantuan whose eyes had long since rolled back into its head. A stench bellowed from the mouth, and she instinctively brought her hand over her mouth and nose—wait, stench?

On the side of the real world, V pulled the helmet off her eyes, disorienting for a moment as she frantically scanned her surroundings. The feeling nearly made her want to vomit, but what struck her the most was the fact that the stench was gone. Dizzily, she reached for the hazy blur of white that rested on her lap and pulled it on over her face, the panic slowly subsiding as the smell faded back in.

By this time, the pig-cow had vanished, and Venus was left on her feet again, standing just shy of the giant’s teeth as the two people with her went inside. Whatever queasiness she’d felt before was slowly being replaced by unease at the hot, humid air within the thing’s gaping mouth, and the soft, moist ‘ground’ on which they tread. Looking down as she steadied herself amidst one of its gyrations, she more accurately labeled it as a tongue in her mind: low, flat, and still very much alive.

It was strange to be in awe at something that crept her out so very much. The simple realism of her experiences in this game: the feeling of the warm humid air causing her clothing and skin to stick to itself unnaturally, matting her hair to her head; the gradual moistening of her sandals as they sucked the saliva off the tongue; the wind’s chill as it rushed around her. “Amazing…” she said under her breath, not paying any attention to the other two until…

”KAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

A chill ran down V’s spine as the looked towards the offending shrieker who’d caught her off guard. Of course her reaction was more natural, given the odd and somewhat frightening environment. Screaming for the pervy boy, though…that was questionable. Usually the pervy ones were the ones who ran away at the first sign of conflict/danger, but this K’s reaction seemed to defy her reasoning. It was only when he looked to the girl for help that she became involved.

“What? Don’t look at me. I ain’t the one with a woman to please.” She sighed, crossing her arms as she tried to ignore the continued silent pleas of the guy who’d called the pig. But he was simply too desperate. With another discontented sigh, she gave in to her impatience and provided a solution: “look, I might have dropped out of highschool, but at least I know that the most direct way to kill someone is by stopping their heart. Whether or not this…thing even has a heart, I don’t know, but if we need it dead? That’s probably the best place to start.”

Oh how she would regret those words.

Hijinx braced herself stalwartly, leaning on the spear for support and thinking nasty things she would have to do to this thing to make it suffer. After all, it had gone too far. For such a trespass, there could be no other option. Wracking her brain for the best way to finish the place off, she almost missed what the new girl was saying... almost.

"...stopping their heart."

And there was the answer she needed. Of course, getting there wasn't going to be fun. Taking one long look at the floor, Jinx clenched a fist and steeled her resolve. The damage was already done, nothing to do but get revenge and fix it later. Oh, those guys were gonna pay for this later, too. Lifting her gaze to the fleshy, pulsing tunnel in front of her, the long arm pulled her spear out of the meaty muscle and marched. It took a lot of focus just to move in this place, the floor was covered in slimy organ goo after all.

"Kae, lets get to the heart of this problem!"

Moving onward and deeper into the belly of the beast, Hijinx had to restrain herself from stabbing the pulsing lung sacks on the walls. Even the ceiling had the distinct rib cage look to it. So perfect was the design that she hardly noticed when they wandered through the doorway. She became very aware, however, after the "door" sealed with a magic damage proof flap of skin and the monster portal at the end spit out a pack of enemies. Among them, Jinx could identify a school of flying fish and some tiny women in armor, with what appeared to be bees. It was time to fight!

The creatures dove in, ready to begin the attack, but then... Hijinx stepped back, preparing to deal with a charge she had back in the beginning. Unfortunately, her predictions about the "floor" had been more than entirely correct.She did, in fact, feel her feet slip a little too easily. The long arm also felt the pulse that caused the ground to shift up slightly all around. Her legs lost their balance and the bottom half of her dress ended up covered in flesh glop. Back in the real world, she was starting to get mad, but something else caught Hijinx's attention immediately. In her attempt to stop the fall, the pointy end of her spear had managed to plant itself sharp side down in a squishy white blotch. She wasn't sure why that was bad, but she did know for sure that the stuff they were standing on was quivering now, violently, and that the monsters had all fled for some reason, hiding in what nooks they could find. Something big was about to happen, but what could it be? Curiousity won over anger for now, and she was back up, waiting and watching the other side of the room now, since the flap there had opened...wide. When she saw it coming, so did Jinx's eyes. She only had one thought before it hit her full force.

"Why couldn't it have just been a monster...?"

A wave of foul smelling fluid came bursting through the whole, catching the entire party and throwing them back out the way they came. The force even carried them all back through the tunnel, over the tongue, and back onto the ground in front of the dungeon. Hijinx went purple with fury and screamed at the top of her lungs, piercing the ear drums of friend and foe alike. Getting to her feet slowly, she started walking towards the dungeon, her eyes burning with malice and rage, her pace quickening with every word, each dripping from her tongue like poison.

"YOU... RUINED... MY... DRESS!!!"

Looking the face dead in the left eye, she gritted her teeth and pulled her arm back, emitting an air of hate that would have killed a man where he stood. The arm came forward, the hand let go, and the spear went free, piercing the air like a javelin and flying straight into the offending eye. A second later, she was on top of it, pulling the weapon out and thrusting again and again to finish the job. Given time, it may even have killed the place itself, since it had obviously been hacked in the first place. Instead, the place reacted, twitching, squirming, and finally, wrenching it's hands free and screaming, clutching it's left eye with both hands. Had the initial pain not caused it to knock Hijinx back to the ground, she may very well have been crushed. Instead, her amazement and survival instincts brought her back to her senses enough to realize what was about to happen.

The Dungeon, hands now free, planted both on the ground and pushed, slowly climbing out of the dirt and towering higher and higher as more of it was unveiled. First, it was just giant, but after it had it's feet on the ground and stood at it's full height, the beast of a thing's mass was easily big enough to match the walls of Mac Anu. That thought brought her around to another one, something slightly more important.

"I-I think we had better leave..."

As if to re-enforce this motion, the giant took one of it's hands away and stared down at them, it's one good eye glaring with intent. It's fist came back high, and the long arm knew...

"NOW!"

Golden rings descended around them half a second before impact from the fist hammered a hole in the earth.