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Understandably, all three of you scramble as far away from the anomaly as possible.
The mangled, lanky anomaly spins around to face the three of you. It reaches out an arm to grab its baseball bat, and it does so, but that's it. It freezes up (no pun intended), unsure what exactly to do next. It tries to take a step towards your group, but whatever's ailing it has sapped it of its strength.
Its legs begin to buckle, but it's able to keep up a steady posture. For now. As long as it doesn't move.
<span class="mu-i">"the grey one. the flesh one. the old one."</span> The anomaly tilts its head as it tries to get a better look at your group. <span class="mu-i">"attempting to kill him again? he will not fall for your tricks again."</span>
<span class="mu-i">"what do you want?"</span> It raises its bat up, pointing it right at you. <span class="mu-i">"you are defenseless without that suit of armor. i will finish what i failed at yesterday."</span>
"Would ya believe us if we said we were checkin' up on ya?"
LOST SINCE 199X tilts its head further and further to the side until it makes a sickening crack. There's no way its neck isn't broken right now. <span class="mu-i">"...?"</span>
"Y-you're s-sick w-with something, so, w-we're collecting samples to figure out what's w-wrong!" Lucy responds as calmly as she can. She does her best to not tremble before the mangled beast. "T-that's all."
<span class="mu-i">"..."</span> LOST SINCE 199X scoffs at Lucy's explanation. It turns around, not even wanting to face the three of you. <span class="mu-i">"it would be a lie to say that i am 'sick'. there's a reason the storm is blowing here again. outsiders like you three are not welcome here. in my forest."</span>
You ignore the cryptic comment for now. "C'mon, you're obviously sick. No one vomits like that without being sick."
<span class="mu-i">"lies."</span> You can hear it grinding its teeth.
Anthony idly rubs his hands together in an attempt to stay warm. "Uh huh. Now, I ain't yer pappy but I know when someone's sick. Can ya at least tell us what you're sick with?"
"W-we'll be out of your hair after this. W-we're, uhm, sorry." Lucy meekly smiles.
>1 SUCCESS!
It gnashes its teeth in between every word it says. <span class="mu-i">"i. am. not. sick. i'm fine. this is what i <span class="mu-s">endure.</span> this failing, sickening body i'm stuck in."</span> Its left hand tightens its grip around the baseball bat.
<span class="mu-i">"purging my weakness. that's all it is. that's all it ever was."</span> Something resembles a laugh escapes its mouth. <span class="mu-i">"it burns, oh yes it does. there has to be so much weakness in me, i have to keep doing this."</span>
"I ain't sure that's right." Anthony shakes his head. "If anything, it's makin' ya weaker, by the looks of it."
<span class="mu-i">"don't pity me."</span> The anomaly snarls. <span class="mu-i">"i would self medicate if i could. like i used to. hair of the dog would f...fi..."</span> It stammers, losing its train of thought.
"Hair of dog, eh? Havin' a hangover, are we?" Anthony politely chuckles. LOST SINCE 199X hesitantly nods, but it doesn't say anything else.
"Was it because of the wine we gave you?"
LOST SINCE 199X shakes its head.
