The robots in front of Meso charge at Oscar. He jumps out of the way of a sword swing from the first robot and barely manages to sidestep a punch from another one. He kicks the one who tried to punch him out of the way and tries to make his way forward, but his path is blocked by a robot holding a shield. The robot smacks Oscar with the shield and Oscar is sent back several feet, landing on his feet.

Oscar: These things are tougher than they look…

Oscar: But I bet with the new distance of my Tenshirou Moon I can take them all out in one swipe!

Oscar: Shit…I’m completely out of power…so much for Tenshirou Moon…

Oscar: Damnit, I don’t care what it takes! I’ll take these things apart with my bare hands, piece by piece, if I have to!

He charges at the robot that tried to kick him and punches it across the face. It grabs hold of his arm as it connects and flips him over its back. A robot with a sword tries to slice at Oscar as he flies across the air, but Oscar flips around and lands on the robot’s head with his foot, kicking it to the ground. Another one grabs him by both arms and pins him against the wall.

Oscar: There are just too many of these stupid things…

Rook comes bursting onto the scene, knocking one of the robots that tries to jump on him out of the way with his elbow against the robot’s face, then slices through the robot pinning Oscar down with his sword. Oscar gets back on his feet as a robot with a sword tries to slash at Rook from behind him. It is blasted out of the way by a stream of fire and explodes against the opposite wall. Sarah walks onto the scene, obviously more than a little exhausted. Smoke rises from her hands.

Meso: This guy again…and another one…where are these people coming from?

Meso: Of course, I’ve still got one more trick up my sleeve, one that can take them all out at once.

Iricryo is dodging arrows raining at him from unknown origins. Some of the arrows scrape across him, leaving cuts.

Ira: I’ll admit I’m surprised, you have no idea where I am, and yet somehow you’ve managed to be successful in dodging my arrows. But you won’t be able to keep this up. One of these arrows will hit, and when it hits this will be over.

Iricryo: If you think you can hit me, hit me already.

Ira: Very confident, but you can’t be prepared from every direction at once.

Ira appears from the shadows directly behind Iricryo, arrow aimed point-blank at his back.

She fires an arrow at Iricryo’s back, and it goes straight through, coming out his front.

A rapier is pointed at her throat, and a hatless Iricryo is standing over her from behind.

The Iricryo she had shot the arrow at looks blankly forward, a lifeless dummy.

Iricryo: Sorry, but you never really had a chance this fight.

Iricryo: When we were walking through the woods to get here, you made the mistake of telling us you were an expert in stealth. Since I’m not as trusting as everyone else I travel with, a planted a little rare tracking device I had picked up on my travels on you long before we ever made it to Drywood. I’ve been able to tell where you were this entire fight.

Ira: You…don’t you dare think this fight is already over!

She turns quickly, loading an arrow into her bow and trying to fire it at Iricryo. As she does, Iricryo swings down with his rapier, cutting her bow in half. She drops to her knees, stunned. Iricryo looks at her, sword still drawn, then steps past her, grabbing his hat from his dummy before moving towards Melanie.

Iricryo: You know, stealth is a very useful ability, especially to rare hunters. With your group in shambles, if you ever want to become a rare hunter, come see me.

He walks away with Melanie, leaving Ira behind looking completely stunned.

Oscar blocks a punch from a robot, then kicks it to the floor with a solid blow against the chest-area of the robot. He stomps the downed robot’s head into the ground with his foot, breaking it open in a flurry of sparks.

Rook blocks the sword swing of one of the robots, then swings back, hacking off the robot’s sword-holding arm. The robot stumbles back for a moment, then tries to punch with its other arm.  Rook swings again, this time cutting the robot’s head from its body. Sparks fly from the robot’s neck, then it drops.

Sarah brings up a magical shield to block a hit from one of the robot. The shield grows and encompasses the robot. Sarah pushes her arms straight forward and the shield and robot are sent flying back. The shield fades, leaving the robot alone to slam into a wall, breaking into pieces.

The three remaining robots retreat towards Meso and gather in front of him.

Oscar: What’s wrong, Meso, the robots not fighting the way you planned?

The three robots stand close together. Their arms link up together to form a chain, and their chests open up, and their feet dig into the ground.

Meso: Mechanical Man Squadron! Combustion Chambers!

The robots explode, creating a large, flaming blast-wave directly in front of them. Meso smirks as the group is engulfed in the flames.

Meso: I sacrificed many of my machines today, but in the end I’d say it was worth it.

The flames clear, and through the smoke Rook is seen, having shoved his sword into the ground and crouched behind it, covering his face with his arm. He is badly burned , but still alive. Behind him Sarah is seen, having blocked the front of the blast with a magic shield. Like Rook, she has been badly burned.

Meso: Damnit, two of them survived.

Rook: Gah, stupid kid, got himself completely annihilated.

Rook tries to pick himself up from the ground, but he doesn’t seem to be able to.

Meso: Heh…they’re so badly hurt now, finishing these two shouldn’t be that hard.

He presses against the wall behind him, and the wall opens up, leaving him with room to leave.

Meso: I just need to pick up a few new toys.

Voice: Where the hell do you think you’re going!?

He looks up and sees Oscar, grabbing onto the high wall, looking down at him.

Meso: How the hell did you get up there?

Oscar: I jumped at the last second.

Oscar: I just used the jumping stance I saw Rido use early. It may look stupid, but can’t argue with those results. Still can’t make it nearly as high as Rido could, though.

Sarah: Thank goodness, he’s okay.

Meso: He’s able to do it that well after just seeing the stance once? It took Rido a week of practice before he could do it that well. And he jumped so fast I didn’t even see it as the fire rushed past. What the hell is this kid?

He turns to run. Oscar leaps off the wall after him, fist back and ready to punch. He lands with a powerful punch to Meso’s back, sending him sprawling forward. Landing like this makes Oscar land flat on his face as well. Meso tries to get up to his feet and run, but Oscar grabs his leg and trips him. Oscar gets up to his feet, and grabs Meso by his back and picks him up.

He slams Meso into the wall face-first, cracking the wall where it hits, then tosses Meso onto the ground. Meso looks up at Oscar, defenseless.

Oscar: This game is supposed to be about having fun! But with people like you running around, trapping players and tricking them with underhanded tactics, you ruining it for everyone! You don’t play fair! Your machines would go a long way in real battle, I’m sure, if they had you backing them up, but you can’t fight cause you’re so used to having everyone else fight for you! And you spend so much time trying to trap people you’re spending no time enjoying the game! It’s pathetic, now tell me, what did you plan for if this town of yours stopped trapping players? You would be completely screwed! So stop trying to play dirty and get in the game with everyone else!

Rook: Wait, we can’t just leave him alive.

Oscar: Leave him, he’s really not worth the time.

Oscar helps Rook to his feet, and with Sarah they walk away. Meso watches them leave, eyes wide, then lies back, staring at the sky.

Oscar, Rook, and Sarah make their way slowly through the town, all tired and injured.

Rook: I still don’t think letting him live is a good idea.

Sarah: Well, I agree with Oscar, there’s no need to kill everyone we come across. He already got his ass kicked and lost his best machines. He’s not much of a threat anymore.

Oscar: Let him brood over it for a while. I just hope I was able to get through to him.

They spot Iricryo walking towards them. Melanie is walking alongside him now, though she has to lean against him for support.

Iricryo: Well, there you guys are. I’ve been worried.

Sarah: Yeah, it’s over. The Spidersilks are done with. Now we can get the hell out of this crazy town.

Iricryo: Not so fast! When I entered, I was promised a treasury full of rare items, and after all the pain in the ass this was, I think it’s well deserved! I won’t leave without it!

Melanie: Well, let’s go get it, then.

Melanie: Thieves have good intuition of where valuables would be kept.

Meso: Maybe he’s right…this game is so huge, the developers must have spent so much time creating it…and I’ve wasted it all in here, just because I wanted to win so badly. I haven’t really enjoyed myself since the start. I’ve been taking it way to seriously. And I ruined the game for many other people who were just trying to have fun.

Meso: I wonder…if it would be too late for me to start enjoying the game now. To go out into the world and see what the game has to offer.

Meso: Dylan, where the hell have you been this whole time?

Dylan: I had to take care of some things. You friend Ira survived the assault, I couldn’t have that.

Meso: Why…Dylan, why would you betray us?

Dylan: I never really was working for you. I was sent by a group who just wanted to make sure you were out of the way before you had the chance to accumulate too much power.

Meso: …I suppose I can’t blame you, you’re just taking this game way to seriously, like I was. But let me assure you, no good is going to come from it. I hope you realize before it’s too late for you, like it was for me.

She stabs Meso in the gut with her dagger. Meso grabs his gut, then falls over forward, dead.

She looks in front of her, and Sniper walks around the corner, having heard the conversation.

Sniper: Who is it that you’re working for?

Sniper: Well, I was curious if they have any openings.

Back in Lecithin, Militia are gathering at the entrance. They split into two rows, and Willix waits in the front of them, arms extending an invitation.

Willix: Player’s Militia, please welcome our newest allies, the High Council.