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Level 6: 14/60
Location: The Maw: The Depths
Word Count: 601
Points Gained: 1
New EXP Balance--- Level 6 : 15/60 [/center]

	Only now, as she was hiding, did Sakura realise how little she had thought this through. Why was she here again? Cause a distraction, right. But she didn't even tell anyone the plan. Still...this could work! All she had to do was hide, and one of her faster teammates would snag the key. Then...step 2. They would improvise that part. If they didn't grab the key, then she would just hide as he cleaned up the mess and they could try again, right? Sakura began to worry her mental faculties had been comprised by the hunger, something she hadn't even thought about being an issue. 

	Sakura tensed up, freezing in place as the butcher let out a horrible screetch. Wow, she thought, he must really like to keep this place clean. Her heart was beating out of her chest as he loomed over the mess. Squeezing her eyes shut, she clenched the hem of her dress as the big chef searched around, his face only a few feet from her. Thankfully she was hiding behind the bowls, and he didn't think to investigate behind them.

	If everything had gone according to her plan that only Sakura came up with, this distraction should give someone time to snatch the key, right? She had gone undetected! Maybe, she thought, this wasn't a bad plan after all. Could have been better executed but, she could work on that in the future.

	No, because another chef entered, a big tall guy, and the brunette knew her 'plan' was right out the window. Cheeks reddenning with embarassment and shame, Sakura realised she had just made their problem ten times worse. Why hadn't she learned her lesson? Everytime she tried to help, she just made things more difficult.  

	That would soon be the least of her concerns as the angry chef, being chastised by his cruel boss, began sweeping things off the counter and making an even bigger mess. Accidentally revealing the little girl hiding behind them. Freezing up, tears welling in her wide eyes, she made horrified eye contact with Larry and then his butcher minion.

	[color=f49ac2]"I- I'm sorry."[/color] She squeaked to both the chef and to her teammates, before turning to run in a panic. [color=f49ac2][i]"Ah!"[/i][/color] She cried out in pain and then gasped, shallow and strangled, as a giant hands squeezed her entire upper body starting at her throat. Kicking her legs was pointless as he grapped those, too. 

	Sakura had never hated anyone more than she hated herself in that moment. Now she just hoped that he snapped her neck right now, so that her stupidity didn't compel her teammates out of hiding and into a certain loss. But no, Rika and Bella, the two people Sakura thought she had done the most good for, were swiftly captured and hurt in their attempt to rescue her. All because of her. They were all so tiny and helpless. [color=f49ac2][i]"Nooo---"[/i][/color] She quietly exhaled, despairing.

	Suicidal self loathing passed, and she realised that she really really really wanted to live, too. Tears streaming down her face, she desperately searched the faces of her now distant teammates for some kind of salvation or plan, but none came. How could it? One last look at her friends and the door was shut and locked.

	Larry announced his plans with devilish delight. The butcher who had her still hadn't done anything, and poor Bella and Rika had been shooken into a stupor. Sakura didn't struggle, looking to avoid punishment or reprisal. It would be pointless, anyway. At the very least she could keep her wits about her. Trembling, arms pressed against her sides, and struggling to breathe, she glanced around the room and tried to locate something useful. It was hard to see through her blurred vision, and she tried to blink away the water in her eyes. Captured, the distance from her friends was insurmountable, and Sakura tried not to think like they would never see her again.

	
	[center][img]https://images-ext-1.discordapp.net/external/ObfXRuxb6cIycBndF6yb4wfoMPCaSkClHh6nJ7k7w1E/%3Fcb%3D20190315052123/https/static.wikia.nocookie.net/control6745/images/f/fe/Pyramid2.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/340[/img]
Level 3: 20/30
Word Count: 494
Location: Al Mamoon Northeast- Rocket Inc
Points Gained: 1
New EXP Balance--- Level 3: 21/30[/center]

	That was one down. The armored crusader knight, Reinhardt, either couldn't or didn't block the shots from her Tool Gun. That was his mistake, as he was quickly smacked and pushed to the side by a large chunk of metal. No doubt that had rattled him inside his armor. As she went to focus on Sven, Braum, who had quite inconveniently switched sides, protected Sven with his shield.

	Sven jumped high into the air, and it was too late for her to do anything. She just didn't have the tools that she used too. Jesse shield her eyes with her arm from the potion, but when she looked back down at her arm she realised it was a cats arm.

	[i](...We're a cat now.)[/i] Jesse thought. Polaris conveyed a mental shrug.

	[i](Um.)[/i]


	"Meow." She licked the back of her paw, briefly getting into character. Shaking her head, watched as Sven came charging forward with a great variety of potion attacks. This, too, reminded her of that homeless guy. Rolling and dodging around as this rotund cat, she took a few grazing hits but nothing too serious. Magical poofing saturday morning cartoon potions. The acid flasks, however, caused Jesse to meow hesitantly. That wasn't good. It was Fox who came to the rescue, getting into melee range with a manic acid wielder was brave, but he paid the price for it.

 	This was some kind of polymorph spell, like from Harry Potter or Dungeons and Dragons. Those usually didn't last forever, and Jesse guess that she wouldn't be this adorable cat for much longer. If it really was permanent case he probably would have used this ability much sooner, and on everyone. Braum was charging towards the wounded Fox, and Sven was temporarily vulnerable.

	Poof!

	[i](And we're back!)[/i]

	Mao went for Braum as he charged after Fox. Hopefully the melee fighter kid could hold him off long enough for Jesse to take care of Sven. Meanwhile, Joker went for Nastasia. Hopefully he was fast enough to avoid being brainwashed. Jesse still thought her Tool Gun plan would work against Sven, now that he was exposed and wounded. 

	In order to help Mao and Fox, Jesse ripped some metal from a pillar and flung it at Braum's back. It would smack against his super strong form but still crush painfully into him, rattling and knocking him off balance to aid Mao's topple attempt.

	Now aiming for Sven's sliced up abdomen, she focused her Tool Gun's effect onto that one specific part. Like one of those guys drom Dig Dug, Sven would be woefully imbalanced as his center of mass grew in size with each shot. Once his legs couldn't touch the ground anymore, she was satisfied. While she had been a cat, her Energy still recharged. Lifting a piece of fallen metal from the ground, she smacked it into his side to send him rolling out of the way of the battle and out of potion range.

	As she considered her next move in all the chaos, she switched to her Service Weapon. Holstering the Tool Gun, her other, much sleeker and deadlier, black pistol reappeared in her hand. Back to full ammo, she needed to give the Tool Gun some time to recharge, too.