I dropped to my knees in exhaustion. It was more emotional than physical, but it was still real nonetheless. Between being kidnapped, escaping, all the fighting, and then the deaths… Way too many deaths.

Then, I remembered what I’d been doing before Fenrir showed up. I grimaced and slowly stood back up, using my staff to help support me. Once I was on my feet again, my eyes went to Frank.

“This is a total clusterfuck,” Jag complained.

“Agreed,” Frank responded, looking to what was left of Michaelangelo’s body. “We lost both our main organizer and our primary supplier.” She shook her head in disgust. “This whole situation has been one bad investment after another.”

“Is that how you see this, Miss Frank?” Giles asked her. “A bad investment?”

“Everything is an investment,” Frank responded. “Time. Money. Attention. Effort. In the end, everything comes down to how much you want to invest those and what you want to get out of it.”

“We sure as hell didn’t get anything out of this,” Jag grumbled.

Frank nodded at that, then turned her attention to me. “For what its worth, I regret my part in what happened. If I’d known things would have turned out like this, I would have just let Michaelangelo examine my axe.”

“Would you really?” Jag asked, looking a little skeptical.

“No,” Frank admitted with a snort. “I didn’t trust Michaelangelo not to damage it. He might have destroyed it just to see how it worked.”

“Sounds like him,” Stine said with a nod. “But the question is, what happens next?” He looked between his friends and the Wardens.

Riel was leaning back against the wall of a destroyed cabin, trying to keep from falling down. He was out of crossbow bolts, and not in any condition to do anything even if he had a full load.

Giles scowled, then carefully said, “Kidnapping and then a second attempted kidnapping…” His eyes darted to me.

“I understand your responsibilities,” Frank said. “And I have had enough of fighting for today.” Then she casually slung her axe over her shoulder, adding, “But I must refuse to surrender.”

“Whether you fight not not,” Giles said. “I’m afraid that I have to take you in.”

Frank just smiled at that, not looking the least bit intimidated by the Warden. Then she looked at Stine and stared at him for a moment.

“I understand your sense of betrayal,” Frank admitted. “And I regret that our association is probably at an end.”

“You did cross a line,” Stine said, looking between Frank and Jag. “Both of you did.”

Jag just snorted. “For someone who says that he hates stupid rules, you sure seem to like following them.”

“Regardless, Miss Frank,” Giles said, stepping forward and putting a hand on Frank’s shoulder…and then through it.

Frank suddenly vanished, as did Jag. For a moment, I just stared at the spots where they’d just stood, then I realized what had just happened.

“Illusion,” I said, looking around for any signs of the real Frank and Jag.

Lenore pointed down the street. “There… I just saw them jumping through an echo…”

“They went into the Labyrinth,” Grayson snarled in frustration. “Should we go after them?”

Giles hesitated for a second, then shook his head. “I’m too tired to go rushing into the Labyrinth. We all are. That would be a good way to get killed.” He gave me an apologetic look.

I nodded in understanding. “Without Maestro and that Michaelangelo guy, I don’t think they’d be interested in me anymore.”

“Michaelangelo is…was obsessed with artifacts,” Stine agreed. “Without him, they wouldn’t have anyone else able to study them.”

“Mad Mike,” Giles mused aloud, then he shook his head. “It looks like we’ll have a few reports to fill out.”

“What is this WE?” Riel asked him with a look of innocence. “My arm is too hurt for me to be able to do that kind of thing.”

Giles just gave him a dirty look.

I just looked at Fenrir, noticing that most of its body was gone. It had been made of smoke, all the way down to its bones, and they were all blowing away in the wind. At the rate it was fading, I suspected that the last those remains would be gone within five minutes.

“We did it, Pham,” I whispered as I stared down at his staff. “We got him for you.”

----------

I let out a sigh as I stepped out of my room and into the lodge hallway. It had been a long day. A Very long day.

I had already taken a shower and had even changed into regular clothes, but I still had my staff with me. After everything that had gone on, I wasn’t about to go anywhere unarmed ever again.

Before I had gone very far, I found Stine leaning up against a wall. He’d washed up and changes clothes too, though he looked a bit…awkward. That wasn’t surprising though, considering the circumstances.

“How are you doing?” I asked Stine, not sure what to say.

Stine chuckled. “I should be asking you that. You were the one who was ambushed and tied up.”

“And you’re the one who just your whole team,” I responded.

The brawler snorted. “You make it sound like they died.”

“Well, they did go rogue,” I said, “so the Wardens will probably be looking for them.”

Stine hesitated for a moment, then he let out a long breath. “Yeah. They really screwed up this time.” He shook his head. “We’ve done a few things that are a little sketchy, but this time they really crossed the line.”

“What about Maestro and that Michaelangelo guy?” I asked. “Weren’t they part of your team?”

There was a brief pause before Stine responded. “Not part of my team, but they were…allies.”

“Allies?” I asked.

He stood up straight and looked back and forth down the hallway before he answered. “You know, we respawned players aren’t even second-class citizens. We exist in a legal gray area with no birth certificates, passports, or whatever…”

I nodded at that. “Yeah,” I responded thoughtfully. “I’m still trying to figure out how that all works.”

Stine smiled faintly. “It isn’t so bad around Labyrinth zones, but in other places… The world needs us, now more than ever, so there’s a limit to how much they can abuse us. But…”

“But?” I repeated with a raised eyebrow.

“I know a man,” Stine said carefully. “He’d been a college professor in his old life, but now… Well, nobody acknowledges any of his diplomas or achievements. He’s an expert, but can’t even get entry level work in his own field.”

“Ouch,” I said in sympathy.

Stine continued. “I know a woman who came back, only to find her husband doesn’t want anything to do with her anymore and that she isn’t allowed anywhere near her own children.”

“And,” he added with a deep scowl. “I know someone who spent his entire life building a successful business. After he died, the brother who’d disowned him…and who hadn’t spoken to him in twenty years, ended up in complete control of it and his fortune, leaving him without a single penny.”

“Wow,” I said, not sure what else I could say to that.

When I’d first learned that I was legally a new person, that I could no longer be held liable for Mike Donovan’s debts or crimes, all I’d been able to think about was that I wouldn’t have to go back to prison. That this was a new start for me. However, it was easy to forget that some people had left a lot behind.

“A lot of players got screwed over that way,” Stine told me with a grimace. “Even non-respawned players get screwed over by some of these new rules.” He shook his head. “Some of us aren’t happy about that and are trying to change things… There’s an alliance, a loose knit organization that’s working to improve things for players. For the most part, we’re still trying to organize and earn enough money to do something more. “

I nodded at that. “I can see that. But what the hell does kidnapping me have to do with that?”

“Nothing,” Stine stated with a grimace. “Maestro was one of our organizers, while Mike was… Well, he was our supplier. I don’t think he cared about our cause. He was only in it because we supplied him with the materials to make new artifacts. And since we got to keep those artifacts, it had seemed like a good deal for everyone.”

“Maestro and Frank were trying to keep Michaelangelo happy,” I said, remembering some of what they’d said. “And they thought he might be able to make soulbound items for you guys.”

Stine rolled his eyes at that. “Stupid idea. Soulbound items are nice, but they’re stuck to only one person. You can’t pass them around to anyone who needs them, and if their user dies…” He shook his head. “Stupid waste.”

I chuckled at that, amused by his reaction. “I guess they are kind of limited that way.”

“I wouldn’t mind having one of my own,” Stine quickly added. “At least, if it was something useful.”

“Having armor that cleans itself is very useful,” I responded with a smirk. “You won’t believe how much it saves me on laundry.”

Stine chuckled, then stared at me for several seconds, suddenly looking a bit awkward again. He straightened up a little more, then absently adjusted his shirt.

“So, I know that this probably isn’t a good time, considering how your day went,” Stine started, looking a bit nervous. “But I was wondering… Will you have dinner with me tonight?”

“Sure,” I responded, only to suddenly realize that he meant more than just eating. “You mean, like a date?”

Stine nodded, smiling self-consciously as he did so. “That was my intention.”

I stood frozen for a moment. My heart raced and I felt more than a little nervous myself. This was a little more serious than a casual lunch. But then, I took a deep breath, smiled, and answered, “I’d like that.”