Magma Scar

"Hey. Nice place you have. Very toasty."

Karl will take out a few gallons of milk and will start chugging one. He will also slowly walk backwards.

"I'm not sure whether I am terrified or extremely attracted..."

Karl gets a thoughtful expression and gazes into the distance.

"I mean, you're pretty creepy, but maybe I like that. Can I get your digits?"

"My home is far away. I don't think I could run and scream that long...

Dang, I guess if you're that dim, I might be able to rip you off in this deal. Tell me more, Ms. Mercia, the "smartest" zebra in the jungle!"

"Now, I have two offers on the table. This is like that TV-Show Dolphin Tank, and I am the black man who makes the shoes with lots of money who is watching as two monster girls fight over his attention!"

Karl nibbles on a pop-tart.

"So you see, I can choose between good or evil. But is the choice really that black and white? Perhaps the angel girl, who is obviously some sort of evil, is good. She said so in her monologue that she was trying to save the world. But I know Laura, and usually evil people don't go to high school in the real world. Most evil people are corrupted later on in life, when cynicism falls into play! Perhaps I am also inflicted by cynicism. If I am, should I try to reflect on my philosophy in thinking or go with my gut? What exactly is my gut? Is it the collection of gooey organs inside my stomach, or is it some sort of spiritual force? Speaking of spirtual force, is it realistic for a girl to suddenly turn into a lava monster? Or is she a monster girl? I will need closer inspections to decide. But is that implying some sort of prejudice towards lava people? What are the racial politics with this new world thrown in? Would they agree with more conservative or liberal idea sets, and how would politicians plan to capture these votes. Could they become voters? Would this be the next civil rights movement, or cause something else to happen? Newton did say that every force has an equal and opposite reaction, and that is the same in geopolitics. If these animal people came, certain groups would not approve of the line between animals and humans being blurred, and then there would be a more divisive country as a result, with people going to both extremes. So, one has to wonder what the moral high ground in this situation is. Do we let these animal people in, and therefore bring in more diversity, or do we keep them out to make the country more united? Ah, I've ranted for too long about politics. Let's move on to the real question. Deal or No Deal? You know, a small voice in my head is telling me that is the name of some sort of television program, but I have never heard of it. Has that ever happened to you? When someone talks about a movie or something and you don't know the slightest thing about it? That's never happened to me, but I have spied on other people who complained about the same thing. Anyways, before I come to my answer on my deal, I must consider what life path it would take me down, and for that to happen I must closely examine the percentage of milk that I enjoy. So, Skim Milk is off the table. Anyone who enjoys skim milk deserves to be banned from the dairy isle. 1 percent is only slightly better, too. Then, it comes down to 2 percent and whole milks. Two percent is the traditional choice, so as a teenager, I would choose the rebellious choice of Whole Milk. However, if everyone is rebelling at the same time, wouldn't it be anti-establishment if I went with 2 percent? Nevermind. I did not expect to suddenly bring up such a controversial topic in front of two monster girls. Speaking of which, if there are other worlds, you must question who rules them, and this might tie into my later answer. People and animals strive for some sort of heirarchy, but do animal people do, too? I believe they do, and they are controlled by several puppet mafias in turn controlled by the one big ferret mafia. I learned this fact after gazing on the oracle glass and getting a revelation through spacetime. Now, both of you do not seem to resemble ferrets, but they are tricky creatures. So, for the final solution to be made, I must learn how much fur you have on both of you by going home, grabbing my lucky lint roller, and testing it out thoroughly on the left elbow region. This is the only way I will agree to any contract."  

"F-f-ferrets!?!? As an attractive girl!?!?!? ATTRACTIVE FERRETS!?!?!? I GOTTA STOP THIS!!!!!"

But, Karl stops.

"Wait, I still need to get my lucky lint roller and test you. I'll be back in a sec."

Karl will run out of the portal, into his house, get his lint roller, and collapse on his front lawn.

(I remembered to edit the Zone Theme into the OP, yay.)

Dewey

As you walk into the portal, you brace yourself, expecting it to be hot.  You weren't expecting it to be this hot.  You can tell you wouldn't survive this heat more than a few minutes.  Then your Soul Key activates itself.  Do they respond to the user's distress or something...?

You find yourself back in the same form from that night.  Elf ears, book, cloak.  The heat has gone from 'potentially lethal' to 'unpleasant.'  Somnis, Katie, and Fox are all waiting for you, similarly changed.  Somnis is wearing a skintight black suit with a short cape and a mask that screams "old-timey thief."  A half-dozen black-leather belts wrap around her at odd intervals, each containing a few knives.  Fox is dressed in a similar black outfit, but with a much larger cloak.  And a black shawl wrapped around the bottom half his face.  A large scythe is strapped to his back.

Katie is... different.  To the point you only know it's Katie by the process of elimination.  She's not wearing a different costume or a mask or carrying a weapon.  She doesn't really need to.  She's now a hulking, 7ft tall... werewolf creature, walking on two legs, covered in fur and muscle.  Noticing his surprise, she flashes him a fang-filled grin.

The party is on the shore of a massive lake of lava.  Above them, sheer rock face lined with a few ledges, bridges, and caves stretch up as high as a sizable building.  There's a large, hourglass-like crystal sitting several yards out into the lake.  A rhythmic clanking draws everyone's eyes to a group of red, lizard-like creatures smashing repeatedly into the bottom chamber.  Inside, what looks like a human-dragon hybrid is chained up and blindly spewing flames at its prison.  Glowing, red-hot lava dripping from the upper chamber into the bottom is starting to form a pool at the creature's clawed feet.  The dragon-beast doesn't seem to be pained from the lava drips so much as annoyed by its general situation.

The fire-lizards around the base of the hourglass all turn to the party, snarling and hissing as they march forward, snapping their teeth and spewing small jets of flame.

"Great.  Everyone, get ready!" Somnis calls out.  There's a hint of worry in her voice.

~Battle in the Magma Scar: Volcano Battle~


OTHERWORLD EXPLORATION TEAM (AND SPECIAL GUEST SOMNIS)
        VS
    VENGEFUL STALKERS

Otherworld Exploration Team

Dewey starts flipping through his book as four of the creatures breach the shoreline.

Vengeful Stalker.
Element: Fire.
Threat Level: C+.
Weakness: Water, Dark.
Resistance: Fire, Earth, Plant, Celestial.
If it appears to be preparing a powerful attack, it is likely to unleash a wide burst of flame.

Somnis runs forward and slashes one with a knife.  It winces in pain, and in that split-second Somnis just disappears.  Dewey was staring right at her, but can't see any trace of her...

Katie crouches down and concentrates.  Her skin seems to just fall off, and she re-emerges as an equally giant gorilla.

Fox leaps into the air and slashes on of the creatures.  Water flings from his blade as he swings.  The monster falls in a single blow.  One of the creatures shoots a burst of flame at him.  Fox's armor catches on fire and he starts to both Burn and Panic.  That looked like it did a lot of damage...!

The two survivors both whip Katie with their tails.  She blocks the blows with her big ol' gorilla arms and seems fine to keep going.