And so it happened. Zhang Lu bundled Itvasme, who was now bound, unceremoniously into the cupboard that he conveniently had under a set of stairs.
But first… he had to fulfil an urge… a human need.
What lay underneath?
It was the natural human curiosity to find out… what, or who lay beneath Itvasme's mask!!!
Tentatively… Apprehensively… with a thrill of both fear and excitement, Zhang Lu reached for the mask's surface…
As he carefully took it off, his eyes widened and he let out a gasp…
___
… Beautiful… Itvasme was… unbelievably beautiful!!!
At this point, Itvasme was groggily coming around, and he, she? vaguely noticed that some guy, oh it was Zhang!!! was checking them out, saying weird stuff like.. "Beautiful… unbelievably beautiful…"
"What the… I know that!" Itvasme snapped coquettishly.
Wait… what?!
That's right! The mask had been fitted with a voice transformer… Itvasme's real voice was high, and flute-like… like a girl's!!!
This pretty and feminine person tried to move but unfortunately realized that they were tied up and in some kind of enclosed space.
Meanwhile, Zhang was still in shock as he surveyed his gorgeous captive.
He had been expecting the worst, to see some kind of grotesque aberration, some kind of Jokér, a crazy man who wanted to wreak havoc, vengeance on the world. But who would've known, that this masked 'man'… that behind the mask, lay an ethereal beauty?
His? Her? Features were flawless, long lustrous hair cascaded out from where it had been tied up and hidden under a hood, beautiful almond eyes, long eyelashes, flushed cheeks, and beneath the cloak, it appeared that Itvasme was wearing… a cute dress!!!
"What in the name of plot?!?!"
Was this the epitome of the saying,
"If evil, why hot?!?!"
"If hot, then why not?!?!!"
"But why then did you need or wear a mask?"
Zhang Lu asked.
Itvasme's girly voice rasped.
"In the past…
I was.. typecast!!!" Itvasme's startlingly mesmerizing and expressive eyes flashed indignantly.
People judged me so fast…
So at last…
But they were out of time, and the author, out of rhyme.
Zhang, upon seeing Itvasme's attractive, androgynous features, compounding with his lack of sleep, and overexposure to disturbing subject matter, was suddenly filled with a…weird curiosity…
"W-what are you looking at me like that for?!?!"
Itvasme's beautiful eyes widened.
____
Zhang was fortunately not a monster.
"Dark Rizzardry is scary, isn't it, when you're on the other end." Zhang Lu smirked.
"But don't worry. I just got an idea…"
"I'm going to have you tell me more about the Dark Rizzards… Tell me… everything…"
"But first…" he coughed awkwardly.
"What are your pronouns?"
___
"Humph. Well, Thanks for asking… I was born a boy, but it never felt right… and so, with time and effort, I took steps to become more and more like the ideal vision I had for myself…"
Itvasmé's sweet melodic voice hitched as she continued…
"It wasn't easy… I encountered all kinds of weird guys with fetuses, and girls didn't seem to fully accept or trust me either…
That's when I discovered the power of Dark Rizz… and so, I became part of the Dark Rizzard Alliance and threw myself into the work, climbing up the ranks getting to where I am today…"
"So yes, now as you've uncovered me… my secret that is… I am a girl, and my pronouns are she/her…"
___