Zoe put away her phone with an exasperated sigh.  She had come to the yearly convention with her sister, Madison. They had had a good time for most of the afternoon. They had decided to cosplay as sisters with Zoe in her Ruby Rose outfit and Madison dressed as Yang Xiao Long. They had had fun playing old video games in the game room and viewing the series that were being shown. However, while they were at the merchandise stand, Madison had caught sight of some of her friends and before Zoe knew it, she had left with them.  This was not an uncommon occurrence, as Madison always had trouble focusing on one thing at once.

Zoe had made the most of the situation, checking out the various displays and taking pictures with other cosplayers. She even spent a bit more money than she had planned on souvenirs now that her sister was not around to judge her purchases.  It was getting late in the evening though, and Madison was not answering her phone. “She probably forgot to charge it again," thought Zoe, torn between annoyance and amusement.  She waited for a while in one of the main hallways, but when her sister didn’t walk by, Zoe decided it would probably be best to head back to the room to wait for her.

As she got closer, the crowds began to thin out. There was hardly anybody around when she walked past the hotel swimming pool and by the time she entered the hallway that led up to the rooms, there was no one around until a random guy walked around the corner.  “That’s a great costume,” he said as he walked by. “Did you make it yourself?”

“Just the hood and the scythe,” Zoe replied, giving the large prop a wave. “Unfortunately, I didn’t make it collapsible.”

“It’s still pretty impressive,” He continued.

“Thanks,” Zoe replied. “Didn’t feel like cosplaying yourself?”

“My photography takes enough of my time,” He said, motioning to the camera around his neck.

“Besides, I don’t think there’s a cosplay I could pull off, I’m content just getting pictures of the good ones I see.”

“Well, as long as you’re enjoying yourself.” Zoe replied.

“Speaking of which, would you mind if I got a picture of your costume?” he asked. “It definitely qualifies as one of the good ones.”

“Why not?” Zoe said. “It would probably be cooler if my sister was here, she’s put together a pretty good Yang outfit, but who knows where she is.”

“Oh well,” The guy replied as Zoe moved toward the wall. “How does this look?” she asked, posing with her over-sized model weapon in one hand. The guy set down his bag and the large book he was carrying and readied his camera.

“Perfect, just one second,” he replied. A bright blue flash burst from the camera and Zoe immediately felt…strange. She went to rub her eyes from the brightness of the flash but neither of her arms would move from the position they were in when she posed. In fact she found that she could no longer move any part of her body. No matter how much she tried, her limbs and head remained as still as a statue. In fact, she could no longer feel herself breathing.  Becoming more alarmed by the second, she tried to call out for help but found that her mouth was just as immobile as the rest of her. In the midst of these horrifying realizations, she got the dizzying sensation that the room around her was slowly getting bigger.

Zoe had no idea what had happened to her, but the guy smiled in satisfaction as he lowered his camera and looked at the small plastic Ruby figure that was now standing where Zoe had been.

“WHAT THE HELL!?!” A voice suddenly yelled. The smile vanished from the guy's face as his focus darted toward the end of the hall.

TO BE CONTINUED