Universe's End

As Zoey stared at the strange monster, she reached for her shield, only to pause as the monster seemed to focus not on her, but on the spot next to her. Curious, she watched it approach until it stopped directly beside her, turning to face the non-existent audience.

"Huh?"

Looking out into the empty theater, Zoey saw that the orange haze from outside began to fill the spots, taking vaguely humanoid forms.

Confused as she could be, Zoey looked back at the monster, which had bent over slightly so that the eyes within its pitcher plant head could stare back at her.

Is it… nodding at me?

As if things couldn't get stranger, the monster held its hand up, three fingers raised, then one finger, before tapping its forearm twice. Then, the monster tossed itself backward, landing on its back.

What in the world?

Staring in confusion, nearly a minute passed before the monster stood back up, shaking its weird head before Zoey felt a massive inhale from the monster, as in the exact moment she felt as if someone had sucker punched her.

And not sucker punched her as she was now, but as if she'd been sucker punched back on Earth, her durability doing nothing.

Looking at her interface, her eyes widened in surprise. She had instantly lost ten percent of her vital energy.

It was clear that the monster was responsible, but as she prepared to attack, the monster held its hands up as if trying to calm her. Finding the reaction odd and realizing that she hadn't bothered to examine the monster, something that might explain the strange action, Zoey finally did so, her eyes widening again.

This is a joke. This must be a joke.

Because standing in front of her was a tier nine monster.