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Erich wondered for a bit if he should have been doing this. He was currently making his way to the meeting spot that Penelope had asked that they meet at tonight, and Erich was wondering why it was so far into a park and out of view. The sun was just setting, it's last rays coloring the sky a pink to purple, to dark blue as it set, giving off a slightly ominous feeling, like something was going to happen tonight that Erich wasn't going to like.

He and Penelope had been chatting for a bit after bumping into each other at a book store. Though they had been looking for completely different types of books, somehow the bump ended up turning into a conversation, and so they had been meeting up to talk about things, such as Erich's interest in leather working and Penelope's interest in knitting and medieval history sometimes. And eventually Penelope had started to talk about a group that had piqued Erich's interest. She described it as a sort of fighting group that went and was secretly fighting to save the planet from the 'terrorists'. He thought it was a little crazy, but since it was interesting to listen to, he had let her talk about it at length.

Eventually, most of their meetings consisted of her describing and trying to get him to join, but he had only given her non-committal grunts and 'maybe's in return. He had started to wonder if the girl was actually crazy, and wandering to the meeting spot tonight, he hoped that he wouldn't be jumped by a bunch of crazy cultists that would force him to join. Or murder him. He really hoped it wouldn't be murder.

The spot was off of the path so for a bit Erich had had to trudge there on foot, and was glad that he was so used to being outdoors, otherwise this might be annoying or something. Eventually though he was there, and found that Penelope was already waiting for him. He gave her a wave and a smile, though in the back of his mind he had already promised himself that this would be the last time meeting her. This is what happens when you feel guilty for stupid reasons. He thought to himself. Out loud he said, "Hey! Hope I'm not too late! Why did you want to meet here though?" He wanted to get straight to the point.

Erich froze for just a second. C***. Wasn't expecting that. He thought as he tried not to show on his face his surprise. He had already made sure that they wouldn't be meeting anymore. But he didn't want to have to tell her! Ghosting her would have been much better, considering that she seemed a bit crazy.

But, Erich wasn't one to back down from something like this and decided to bite the bullet. "Actually, I have. And I'm sorry, but I just can't do it." And now he had to think of some plausible excuses. "I mean the group sounds interesting and everything but I don't think I'd be cut out for something like that. And I'm working on my degree too..." Well, both of those were true. Mostly because he couldn't keep himself from becoming attached to such an 'important' cause like that. It was why he liked staying out in the wilderness so much. He could just take everything day-by-day. Actually focusing on future goals for a group was just not something he felt he could do that well in.

And he also had to focus on his degree. He was in the middle of his graduate degree and couldn't wait to get it so he could finally do some field studying. "So, yeah. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to join. And since that sounds like it was what you asked me out here for, I think we're done talking. It was, nice meeting you Penelope." He said, turning his back to her, ready to walk away and be done with all of this mess.

If there was one thing that Erich was, that was a natural-born fighter. Or someone who actually thought about their own safety.

Although Erich didn't feel good about walking away, he at least felt as though he could do it. That is, until he felt a hand on his shoulder and instead of the average strength that he would have felt coming from a person of her stature and build, it hurt, and he could no longer move. And now I'm going to be killed by some crazy lady, great. He thought as he tried not to show that he was panicking.

Instead he turned around as much as he could with her grip still on his shoulder. And unfortunately, his go-go-go mouth decided to speak for him instead of letting his brain look at the situation first. "I can go if I want to! You can't make me join your freaky group!" If he wasn't going to be murdered before, he certainly was now.

He had seen the hand and had expected a punch or something. What he did not expect was for the hand to go through him, and the excruciating pain that came after. What is she doing?! He thought to himself through the pain. He had grabbed onto her arm, trying to pull it away, but even through the pain he realized that ripping an arm out of one's chest probably wasn't a good idea.

And whatever she was doing, he felt something changing about him. He wasn't sure what, since the pain was starting to cloud his mind, but there was definitely something going on, like his very soul was being taken away from him. Well, that's what it felt like at least.

He could only yell, "Stop it!" through the pain, but knew that she wouldn't listen.

The pain was now over, but Erich felt as though that there was something terrible wrong now. Like something had been put in his body. He took a moment to catch his breath and looked at his hands since they felt as though they were covered now. And they were. He had gloves on. He looked at the rest of himself. He seemed to in some weird magenta and highlight pink outfit or something.

He turned around to face the woman and yelled, "What did you do to me?" He had no idea what was going on. What did she mean by 'smoother'? He growled out "Tell me what is going on." He felt a bit more powerful but, he could tell that he really shouldn't be trying to hit the woman. He wasn't sure what he was feeling, but it was though she was giving off some sort of invisible power, to the point where he knew he couldn't take her if she tried.

At this point, Erich really wished he had just ghosted this woman like his gut had told him too. But noooo. He just had to go and deal with it himself. That's what he got for being so gung-ho about jumping into situations that could possibly get himself killed. What a smart idea!

He didn't say anything as she gripped the front of his "outfit" and he could feel the strength radiating from her. He hated to admit it, but at this point he didn't dare try to fight her, even though he badly wanted to.

He let her speak, and was dreading the next part of whatever this interaction was and wherever she was going to take him, but he knew that he had no other choice. When he felt that he could, he only replied with, "Fine." He would not say that he would join this group or that he was okay with all of this. This was forced on him, and while he had no idea what it was that he was getting into, he only hoped that he could get out of it soon.