Oscar’s face bursts out of a pile of rubble. He pulls himself out of the rubble and dusts himself off, trying to clear all the dirt from his clothes.

Oscar: Well, that wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

He hears a muffling under the rubble. His eyes widen and he desperately starts digging through the rubble, finally managing to pull Melanie from the rubble.

Melanie: Alright, considering. Who knows how long we’ve been buried.

Oscar: It couldn’t have been longer than a few moments!

Melanie: Look at the position the sun. It was early afternoon before, now it’s the middle of the evening.

Melanie: It’s fortunate we even survived.

Melanie: The mountain most have sloped just enough at the right points off our fall to slow our descent.

Oscar: Or maybe we’re just that cool?

Oscar: Well, whatever happened, I sure hope the others were as lucky.

Rook: We’re almost to the other side of the mountain now.

Sarah: I’m getting worried, we haven’t seen Oscar or Melanie.

Iricryo: They fell pretty far. We landed on a close path only a few dozen feet below us, I believe they fell all the way to the base of the mountain.

Rook: It’s upsetting, but most likely they did not survive.

Sarah: Don’t think like that. I’m sure they made it.

Iricryo: If they did, they know where we’re heading. We’ll keep an eye out for them in the Grandi area. But we don’t have the time to stop to look for them.

Sarah: Finally, the end of the path.

Rook: This path is clear despite the rockslide.

Iricryo: So someone’s cleared it already.

Sarah: What are you two waiting for?

Oscar: So we’re just going to go around the mountain this time?

Oscar: Why didn’t we do that in the first place!

Melanie: The mountain’s very wide, and the path up it is typically far quicker. But by some fortune we landed not too far from the other side.

Oscar contemplates this for a second, then looks to Melanie with some admiration.

Oscar: You sure know a lot of stuff Melanie.

Melanie is taken aback by the pure bluntness of this statement, then smiles.

Melanie: I’ve had to travel around a lot for my … profession. It would make sense that I would know so much.

She is cut off by the sounds of a horse coming up on them fast. They part to the side just in time for Bel to go dashing by on horse. Bel’s horse comes screeching to a stop, and Bel turns around to look at them.

Melanie: Is this another one after us?

Bel glances at Oscar’s gloves and her face lights up like a little girl on Christmas morning.

Bel: I found them, finally after all this time! The Gloves of Tenshirou!

Oscar: I don’t like where this is going…

Sarah falls back, the figures making themselves out to be Jack and James.

James: She’s not here, she might have gone around the mountain.

Jack: Hey there! How’s life missing an arm been treating you? Really sorry about that.

Rook: These things happen, I suppose.

James: Wait, I recognize these guys, too. They’re three of our targets of opportunity.

Sarah: For the last time, we’re not the Spidersilks! We were set up!

Jack: Wow, that sucks. Especially with the whole militia after you and all.

James: None of that matters. We’re under orders that if we see you, we kill you.

He gets his crossbow in a ready position. Iricryo and Sarah back up a few steps, Rook clutches at his sword defensively.

Jack: These guys don’t seem all that strong, wouldn’t be a very interesting or fair fight. Plus I still feel kind of bad for cutting off that guy’s arm. You can do it.

Bel: So, how much do you want for those gloves.

Oscar: Sorry, I really like these. They’re not for sale.

Bel: I’m sorry, my fault. I didn’t explain. You see, you can either sell them to me, or I’ll kill you and then take them.

Oscar: Oh, come on, over a silly pair of gloves? I’m really attached to these.

Bel: Yeah, well I understand that, but I’ve been looking for these forever! Gloves with the blocking power of a small shield, massive power boosts to punches, and of course any attack activated with them has the ability to break through anything! So amazing!

Oscar: Oh, so you know a lot about them.

Melanie: Uh, Oscar…what are you doing?

Oscar: I’ve been trying to get this one attack to activate with them for a while now, and it just won’t activate.

Melanie: He’s asking her for advice…

Oscar: You mean there’s more than one Tenshirou piece!

Bel: There’s an entire set, each piece with its own ability. And they are all really cool!

Melanie: You’d never guess that just a moment ago she threatened to kill him. Well, I’m sure that’s going to come up in a moment.

Bel: So as I was saying, how much for the gloves.

Oscar: I’d like to see you try and take them.

She dashes, getting behind him is a flash of a second. She elbows him across the back, sending him to the ground. He tries to pick himself up but she keeps him pinned to the ground under her foot.

Melanie: Burn brightly, Blade of the Eagle!

Her dagger bursts into flames and she tries to bring it down on Bel. Bel catches Melanie by the arm, stopping her mid-attack. She then leans her head back and head-butts Melanie square in the face. Melanie goes down to the ground, clutching her face.

He punches the ground, forcing it to give way under him, freeing him from Bel’s foot. He springs to his feet and charges at her.

Bel ducks and the attack goes right above her head. She looks at it with amazement before punching Oscar in the stomach.

Bel: That is so cool! The gloves are just as cool as I thought they were going to be!

Oscar: You don’t have my gloves yet!

Melanie: Unfortunately, it’s the opposite. Her speed, her physical power, this is an opponent far above our level that we cannot beat.

Melanie: If you wish to survive in this game, sometimes you have to admit defeat at the hands of an opponent when the difference in ability is just this great.

Bel: She’s right. Not that you’re weak, or anything. But I pride myself at being recognizes throughout this game as one of the strongest players.

Melanie: That’s right, I recognize you now. Bel, the Black Seeker. She has a lot of connections and runs a business finding people for other players, for reasons ranging from just reconnecting old friends to assassination. She’s a feared player, even the Militia tends to stay out of her way.

Oscar: So what are you saying I should do?

Melanie: Do the smart thing … for once. Give up your gloves. It’s the only way she might let us live.