Jake questions reality, but concern for the possible danger he and his friends might be in help him focus. Nick discovers how hard plate mail is to remove in an emergency and Emily discovers a possible game changer.

Disclaimer: The original characters and plot of this story are the property of the author. No infringement of pre-existing copyright is intended.  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. This story is copyright (c) 2011 R Nelson. All rights reserved.

Nick’s rant broke through Jake’s paralysis and brought the ghost of a smile to everyone’s faces. Jake’s Army training and experience took over.  Deal with the important stuff, like living, and the minor stuff, like waking up as a girl, will take care of itself. He hoped.

Food, water, shelter and security were the main necessities with security jumping up to the number one spot. Reality was also a concern because if none of this was real, then why worry about the other things if waking up would solve them?

Jake looked up, into the clear blue sky. “So, does anyone else remember the storm and the explosion?”

He received nods and mumbles of agreement from everyone.

“Okay, are we dead or are we, dreaming?” Jake asked, looking around at his friend’s new faces and their surroundings. They appeared just as confused as he felt. Everything looked real and it felt real, all the way down to the faint breeze and the sounds of the birds in the trees.  He had some pretty realistic feeling dreams in the past, but couldn’t remember having a dream that felt as realistic and detailed as this on currently was.

Brooke, Brian and Emily were the first to arrive at a conclusion. “No, I don’t think we’re dead or dreaming because this certainly doesn’t look like any heaven or hell I could ever imagine and I feel pretty damn awake right now.” Brian spoke first, causing the other two to nod with agreement.

Jake thought the jury was still out, but he nodded with agreement as he turned to Nick. “Okay, your thoughts?”

Nick glanced down at his stubby fingers and bushy beard. “Fuck if I know, but this sure as shit isn’t a dream.”

“How do you know?”

“Simple, I just farted inside of this tin can.” He rapped a knuckle against his breast plate. “And, now, it feels all warm inside. Well, I hope I only farted…” Nick anxiously adjusted his posture and smiled with relief. “Yep, just a fart.”  He sniffed once, and then closed his eyes as they began to water. “Oh my god, what in the hell did I eat!?”  He gasped for air and took a step back.

Jake felt his spirits lifted as he and the people he thought of as his friends smiled and laughed at Nick. “Okay, that leaves me feeling a little unconvinced because this,” He gestured to his new female body. “Is impossible and I can say with absolute, 100% conviction, that I have NEVER dreamed about being my DBO character!”

Except for Nick, Jake had to look up to everyone and he estimated that he now stood somewhere between 5’ 2” and 5’ 4”. Brooke was now a few inches taller than he was and with all her armor, she looked every inch the warrior woman she played in the game. Both, Brian and Emily looked to be the same height as they were before, maybe 5’ 8” or so; making the pair the tallest of their group.

Emily certainly won the lottery in the looks department. As a sorceress, charisma or appearance coupled with intelligence were the primary stats for her class. In the game, the charisma stat gave her a bonus to charm, but didn’t do anything for her appearance. There were only so many pixels for the character models. Now, Jake found it a little hard to take his eyes off her. Her outfit matched her in game outfit. It covered her body, accenting every perfect curve, yet left plenty of room for the imagination. She was smoking hot and would probably put a supermodel to shame.

Next to her, Brian looked positively invisible. Not because he wasn’t trying to stand out, but because the slightly overweight, geek man with pale skin and boyish features was no longer there. In his place stood a rough shaven man with average features, average eye color and average build. His appearance would help him blend in, making him perfect for a rogue. The way he had sprung up earlier and how he now stood reminded Jake of a male gymnast or dancer.  He looked dangerous and ready to react in the blink of an eye.

Brooke, he didn’t know what to think about her. Yes, she had lost a few inches in height, but out of all of them, she had the least dramatic change to her body. In his opinion, he thought she looked a little more beautiful, but not as dramatic as Emily.  Her face was different, a little more angular with larger, more expressive eyes, her hair was a different color and her ears were pointy, but otherwise, she didn’t look or act at all freaked out about her changes.  She had been the first to pull her self together and help snap him out of his paralysis.

The new Nick probably had more in common with Jake. While still a male, his body had been changed as much and possibly even more than Jake’s. They had both lost a foot or more in height. Gone was the tall, stork of a man who probably only needed to shave once a week and who would get winded if they tried walking up more than two flights of stairs. With some fake ears and a costume, the old Nick would’ve made the perfect elf. In his place, stood the epitome of a fantasy dwarven warrior.

He looked like an NFL Defensive lineman who had two feet taken out of his legs, compressing him down from 6’ something to 4’ without losing anything in his upper body. With his armor, he looked like a powerful little tank that could bulldoze his way through anything in his path. It made him feel more than a little intimidated and he wasn’t used to feeling that way.

Jake felt so tiny compared to everyone else. He had always been the tall, muscular self-confident athletic member of their little group. Even without his foot, he still kept himself in shape and weighed in at 250 pounds. He was the one everyone called when they needed help moving or lifting something. Now, he felt like he might be lucky to weigh in at 90 pounds and lift a bag of flour.

“Okay,” Jake sighed with resignation. “Then, I have to assume that this is real,” He gestured down to his body and the clearing they stood in before focusing his attention back to his friends. “And that you all are real and, you all have to do the same, right?”

They all nodded in agreement and for some reason, seemed to be looking to him for leadership. Yes, he usually led the group when they played, but it was only because his character was the healer and the role kind of forced him to hang back and keep an eye on the overall mission. With the way he felt about himself right now, he wondered what his friends could be thinking. He didn’t feel at all confident. He was the last person who should be leading this little group.

Brooke was the better person to lead the group. Her character was the warrior, with lots of armor to protect her. In real life, she had a black belt in karate and knew how to fire a weapon. While she had never served in the military, her old man had, and boy had he.  The man was a Navy SEAL and he had taught her everything he could.  Jake didn’t find out about her dad until after they had been dating for a few months.

She had mentioned that her father had been in the Navy, but never that he had been a SEAL. While they served the same country, the Navy and the Army didn’t exactly get along and Brooke knew that. She sprang that critical little detail about her father being a SEAL only two days before she introduced them. It was the only time he had ever seen her act nervous about anything.  While in his 50’s, her father kept himself in shape and he had a presence, almost an aura of danger that made Jake feel very wary around the man, but he could tell that beneath the tough exterior and hardened eyes, was a man who cared deeply about his daughter and would do anything to protect her.

Jake left the meeting feeling more than a little intimidated, but Brooke practically glowed with happiness. “He likes you!” She giggled and kissed a surprised Jake.

As much as he wanted her to, Brooke didn’t look like she was going to step forward and take charge. Someone had to and he realized that his friends were all waiting on him to provide them with direction. He sighed with defeat, causing Brooke to smirk with satisfaction.

“Shit!” He realized that having his arms crossed against his chest gave him more cleavage and made him look just as hesitant and intimidated as he felt.

He uncrossed his arms, widened his stance and placed his hands on his hips to make himself look and feel more aggressive. “Okay, I’m probably the last person who should be leading you all, but since no one else wants to take charge, I will.”

No one countermanded his assertion.  Brooke smiled, Brian and Emily looked hopeful and Nick, well, Nick just scowled as if he was daring him to change his mind. The scenario looked pretty grim to him. With their security in mind, he surveyed their current position with a little more thought toward defending it from attack. The large stones that made up the Stonehenge like circle provided some cover and concealment from anyone observing them from the wood line. They would probably block anything short of the armor piercing round of a tank cannon.

What was beyond the stone circle and in the forest was another matter. Jake’s posture stiffened with resolve as he turned to his friend. “Okay, Brian. Since you’re probably a rogue and not wearing a noisy steel suit, I need you to help us establish a perimeter.” He pointed to what he thought was north. “Head that way until you hit the trees, then do a full circle of our current position. We need to know where we are at and if there are any signs of civilization. Roads, trails, lights, etc...got it?”

Brian nodded once and glanced over to Emily. She returned his nod and sighed when her husband silently stalked away from the group. “Okay, Brooke and Nick. I need you two to keep an eye on Brian and cover him in case he runs into something he can’t handle.”

“Got it.” Brooke turned, picked up and donned her helm, grabbed her shield and strode confidently out of the stone circle in the direction Brian left their location.

Nick nodded and shouldered his large war hammer. “Aye.” His Scottish accent was thick. “Ah crap, what’s with the aye crap?”  He muttered as he moved to support Brooke.

“What about me?” Ally asked, nervously glancing down at her scantily clad body before she reflexively crossed her arms against her chest in an effort to cover up.

“You and I, we do what we usually do.” Jake smiled in an effort to appear less tense than he felt and give Ally some reassurance.  “We stand here and look pretty while the boys do all the dirty work.”

“Hey, I heard that…” Brooke chuckled

Brooke didn’t know what to make if things. She and her friends were now their DBO characters and even more disturbing to her, her boyfriend was now a beautiful, petite, little female wood-elf. He looked exactly like they had made his character and now she felt a little guilty about playing that trick on him, but no one had planned on turning into their characters. If any of them had known it could happen, they probably would have picked different characters, or not played at all.

Was this real? Brian’s magical dagger looked real, but otherwise, she hadn’t seen anyone blow something up or do anything cool.  Her sword looked and felt real. It looked exactly like her character’s sword with elvish runes or something written on the blade. Other than that, it was kind of plain. It didn’t glow or have flames dancing across its surface, but her character’s sword didn’t do anything flashy. It was magically enhanced, but it wasn’t her character’s epic sword with all the cool particle effects.

She knew Jake was majorly freaked out and it made her feel a little guilty because she felt the same as she always felt, but at the same time different, more dangerous or something. She had never seen Jake look so lost and helpless before, but she couldn’t exactly blame him. Unlike him, she had only lost a few inches, but she felt stronger, more supple and full of energy. She knew she was a little more fearless than the typical woman. Her father had seen to that by teaching her how to defend herself using every SEAL trick in the book, and then some extra tricks of his own. She was never able to beat him, but now, she felt like she might be able to give him a serious run for the money.

Her armor looked and felt like it was made from real metal, maybe even steel or some mythical alloy. Jake or one of the guys would probably know what it was made out of. Regardless, it had to be heavy, but it felt like it weighed next to nothing. Her shield, as bulky and heavy as it looked, she effortlessly carried on her left arm. It, most definitely, wasn’t made of plastic. It was made from real metal on the outside, thick, heavy looking wood on the inside with sturdy handle and thick leather straps to help hold it onto her arm.

Brooke liked how she felt.

“Damn, woman, slow down. We ain’t running to put out a fire or anything!” Nick grumbled as he noisily clanked his way over to her side. With his shorter legs, he had a little harder time matching her stride.

Brooke laughed and with the steel armor covering both of their bodies, along with their helms; she wasn’t sure how to hug or kiss him to show her appreciation. Instead, she slapped him on his back like a man would. Her gauntleted hand clanged lightly against the back of his steel breastplate. “Thanks for not freaking out, Nick. You’re sense of humor really helped, and well, Jake needed the kick in the pants.  You’re the best.”

Nick grunted noncommittally and shifted the grip of his hammer, but didn’t add anything as they pair made a half circuit around their camp. “Where did our little ‘spelunker’ go?” He asked, glancing anxiously into the woods.

Brooke peered intently into the woods and shrugged. “Beats me, I lost sight of him almost as soon as he entered the trees. If he’s not really a rogue, he’s damn good at hiding. Have you spotted anything from down there?” She grinned mischievously at him.

“Hardy, har, har...other than the small trail opening back that way, no I haven’t,” Nick grinned as he looked up at her with a thoughtful look in his eyes. “But if yer elvishness is getting a nosebleed from having yer head up in the clouds, I’d be more than happy to help you out. Ya know, knock out a knee cap or two.”

“Ha!” Brooke laughed. “It’s not my fault that you got in a fight with a trash compactor and lost, short stuff, but what do you think about all of this?”

Nick noncommittally shrugged his shoulders before turning his gaze to her. “Damned if I know, but right now, I’m not worried about that because I can’t do anything about it.” He grunted a repressed chuckle. “But, if ya really wanna know, I’ll tell ya what’s really got me worried right now.” He sighed deeply.

Concerned, Brooke stopped and turned to face him. “Of course, Nick. What is it?”

He grimaced with pain. “I gotta take a piss like a frigging race horse and I don’t have a fucking clue to how take off all this armor. Do you?”

Emily glanced over at the new Jake and found herself feeling a little envious of him. With his warm looking leather top, skirt and boots, he looked so pretty and petite. Elvish, exactly like she had always wished she had looked. She had always been a little overweight, not obese, but always a layer of ‘cute’ baby fat and she hated it. Buying clothes that fit was always an exercise in frustration and the extra ‘fat’ didn’t help in the bra department either. She was a full figured woman and bras, no matter how expensive or custom fitted, were always a painful necessity for her.

She glanced back down to her much smaller chest and sighed with frustration. Not because her breasts were now smaller, but because they were perfectly sized. The size she always wished she could have been, but knowing that with her ‘baby’ fat, smaller breasts would have made her look less feminine, less curvy. God, how she hated that term, curvy. She wasn’t fat, but when thin people tried to compliment her by using that word, they somehow made her feel fat.

Emily thought she looked pretty now, but she had no idea how pretty. Brian certainly seemed appreciative of her new appearance, but without a mirror, she couldn’t tell for sure. She felt and looked thin, but not emaciated, healthy, very healthy. A surreptitious glance over her shoulder, down toward her back told her that her butt was probably more perfect than it had ever been in her life. Her hair was almost a foot longer than she preferred to keep it and it was bright silver. The artist inside of her thought it contrasted nicely against her deep blue skin.

She thought she looked a lot like that Mystique girl she saw on TV a few months ago. The one who shot up the convention center during a comic book show and mysteriously disappeared. Her picture had been all over the place for a week or two, but then the next new super villain made the news and everyone forgot about Mystique. She did too, but due to her new appearance, her mind was bringing up everything she could remember about the girl.

There were some rumors on DBO forums that Mystique had played the game and yes, with her blue skin, she looked a little like Mystique, except Mystique’s hair was red and so were her eyes. She did have pointy elf ears and judging by skin and body type, they could be related or something. Except the girl on TV looked like she was only 16 or so, which really made Emily wonder what her own face now looked like.

She didn’t know how Jake could do it. He looked almost ready to have a meltdown a few minutes ago, now, he looked so confident and in charge now. Well, ‘she’ looked confident and in charge. Jake was most certainly not a man now and looking at her, Emily had a hard time thinking of Jake using the male pronoun and using his very male name for  someone who most certainly did not fit the name.

Jake kept a watchful eye on Brooke and Nick while they made their circle of the ‘perimeter’ while the two of them stayed in their ‘position’, as Jake had called it.  She made it sound so military, but Jake was in the Army, so it made sense and she found herself feeling relieved by the use of the jargon.

Emily did her part and kept an eye out for Brian while occasionally stealing a glance or two at Jan. Yes, she decided that she was ‘Jan’ and perhaps it would help her adjust if she referred to her using that name. After a few minutes of simply standing there and feeling anxious about everything, she decided to rip the bandage off. “So, umm, Jan…”

Jan tensed, taking her eyes off of Brooke and Nick and glancing at her with a slightly confused and haunted look in her eyes. “Yes?”

“I know it’s probably a little crazy for you right now, but I’ve been thinking and worrying about myself. Kinda selfish, right?” Emily smiled, attempting to take the sting out of her words.

A ghost of a smile danced across Jan’s features. “Umm, not really. You have changed, a lot. You’re very beautiful.” Jan halted and hastened to reassure her friend. “Not that you weren’t pretty before…” She groaned with frustration. “Oh hell, I dunno, we’ve all changed.”

Emily giggled, reached over and hugged Jan, surprising the petite wood-elf. “Yes, we have.  Brooke and Brian are probably the least affected by all this, but you and Nick, well, more you, I don’t know how you are keeping it together right now, but thanks. You’re a lot stronger person than I could ever be.”

“I doubt that, I mean, I think you’re going to surprise yourself.” Jan pulled away, stole a glance back to Brooke and Nick.

“Where are they going?” Emily asked as she watched the two of them  head for the tree line, but not with alarm.

“I’m...not sure, wait…” Jan anxiously gripped her staff for a few seconds before she chuckled and relaxed. “It looks like Nick has to go to the bathroom.” She turned back to Emily with a smile on her face.

Emily thought she looked so darn pretty when she smiled. “Oh, I never considered how they would manage to do that in their armor.” She motioned to her silky, gossamer gown and gestured to Jan’s skirt. “I guess we are kinda lucky that way, right?”

Jan blushed, turned back to watch her girlfriend and best friend try to figure out their armor. “Yeah, I guess…” She mumbled.

Emily wondered if she was pushing Jan too hard. She turned her gaze back in an attempt to catch sight of how Nick got his armor off. The scene was kind of comical with Brooke pointing out the parts of Nick’s armor that he couldn’t see due to his breastplate blocking his view. Of course, Nick didn’t find it at all amusing and his profanity could be heard all the way back at their position. “Ah, fuck it Brooke, just cut the fucking belt off for me before I pee my fucking pants!”

A few seconds later, Brooke abruptly turned away from Nick. “Ahhh, about fucking time. I thought my freaking kidneys were gonna explode on me. I had piss coming outta my eyeballs!”  He laughed as he glanced back over his shoulder at Brooke. “Ya should see the size of tha monster I had in my pants. It’s no wonder it took so long to get it out!”

Brooke waved to Emily and Jan before turning back to Nick. She pitched her voice loud enough to be heard by her friends. “Yeah, right. It only looks like that because you’re a LOT closer to it now.”

Emily found the exchange humorous and it brightened her day.  Brooke and Nick seemed to be coming to terms with their changes just fine.  Brooke and her had always gotten along, but Brooke had more of a driven personality. Brooke and Jake were both so alike and perfect for each other. Brooke was more direct and forceful than Emily and probably not a person who she would have become friends with under normal circumstances, but the two of them had grown to like each other over the past year.

Emily was the sensitive artist type who would always sniffle or cry over a friend’s Facebook post of a cute kitten or friend in need story.  Brooke would laugh at her for reacting so emotionally, but she would also show her support by giving her a friendly hug. “You’re such a softy and I think it’s great. The world needs more people like you.”

She glanced back to Jan and could tell the interaction between Brooke and Nick troubled her. “She still loves you.” Emily whispered and briefly pulled Jan close to her.

Jan sighed. “I hope so, but right now, I’m more worried about the two of us.”

“What?” Emily asked, surprised by Jan’s statement.

“Well, does magic exist here?  If not, you and I are screwed.” Jan pointed to Brooke. “Look at them. They have tons of armor and Brooke has a sword. What can you and I do if we are attacked?”

Emily glanced over to Jan. At least she had a nice staff to hit someone with, but what did she have? A tiny dagger on her hip, what good would that do? She looked down to her hands and wondered about it herself.  Even with her dagger, she didn’t feel equipped to take on a spider, much less a man or a monster. What could she do besides run away screaming for help?  “Well, we could try casting a spell, right?”

“Any ideas on how to do that?” Jan asked, somewhat bitterly.

“No, but talking like that doesn’t help. You just need to have a little more faith in yourself, and your friends.” Emily lightly admonished her friend.

Jan momentarily looked like she might break down and cry, but she quickly recovered. “Yes, you’re right. I’m sorry.” She smiled wryly at Emily as she pretended to try to type on an invisible keyboard. “Umm, okay, any ideas because I don’t have a clue about which button to push here.”

“I dunno either…” Emily closed her eyes and thought about her character’s spells. She didn’t have anything flashy or dangerous like a wizard’s fireball, but she did have a lot of ‘little’ indirect spells.

The first and least dangerous one to pop to mind was the mostly useless, but sometimes fun, level, one, “Dancing Lights” spell. She liked to sometimes cast in the newbie zones. She knew it was wrong, but she had to do something to live up to her ‘evil’ Dark Elf heritage. So, she would sometimes hide the newbie zone and freak out the new players with her dancing lights spell by directing the lights to make attack runs.

She didn’t feel too bad about being evil every now and then. Her evil was easily offset by her drive-by buffings of the newbies. It was amazing how grateful the newbies where when she ninja cast her mana regen buff on them. Jan was right. Casting a spell in the game was a simple push of a button.

Magic had to be harder than that in this life, but she was at a loss for how to go about casting a spell.  Somehow, she doubted that yelling ‘abra-ca-dabbra’ and pointing her finger would work.  It had to be something a little harder and more personal.  Ignoring Jan, she sat down, cross legged on the ground and began her yoga breathing exercises to help center herself. Emily took a deep, calming breath as she concentrated on listening to her mind and body. Nothing else mattered, breath in, breath out, focus on the Dancing Lights spell.

Emily thought she felt something, a tiny spark from somewhere deep inside her body. She exhaled and imagined herself expanding the spark like she was dipping her brush in paint. Opening her eyes, she pointed to the air in front of her and focused on extending the spark past her finger and onto the canvas.

Four balls of light burst into existence.

Well, I hope you all are enjoying this story and will continue to do so. It is the story my muse seems most focused on at the moment. However; a 4th story broke through the barrier and I finished the first, rough chapter of it this evening. I know, insanity to even consider writing four different stories at the same time. Well, not literally at the same time because that would be impossible, even for a crazy person and I'm not crazy. Mostly. Now, I just need to win the lottery so I can write full time and purge these story demons from my mind. Barring that highly unlikely event, I'm afraid you all may start seeing more posts from me, but slower single story updates due to my Muse's ADD.