The sun rose on a paint-chipped brick building. It was itself like a brick stood on its edge, taller than it was wide. The sun-bleached sign that hung above its doorway dubbed it Rosedale Court Apartments. The only residents inside, however, were bared weapons and the sort of tension that was thick enough to weigh on a man’s chest.

On its flat rooftop, three groups stood, no less than a dozen feet separating them from their fellows. A faint breeze, cold and heavy with winter’s seed, crept over them, its fingers questing for any hint of bare skin. Here, the tension was the heaviest. It lay in the beads of sweat that rose in spite of the cold. It lay in the eyes that never stopped roving. Perhaps most of all, it lay in the intertwined gaze of two people. A small line of chalk marked part of the rooftop, unobtrusive enough to be missed by all but the most observant of eyes.

“We are glad you all have come today.” The trembling words, meant to part the tension, only lended their edge to the invisible weight. Agent Rodriguez stepped forward behind them, nevertheless, her black hair tied tightly behind her head. “First, I think we should begin with our goal here. The ARA pursues a treaty for the conflict between the Hunters and the Delvers’ Guild. Additionally, we would like to make provisions for the items known as Keys and preventive measures for future conflicts.”

Eastin, the leader of the Guild, was a stocky man with salt-and-pepper hair. He nodded. “We would like a treaty, as well. With provisions, of course. I will not dishonor our dead.”

Grey looked over the ARA party. Jessica, Rodriguez, Kamaru, and Lazarus. He had already connected the dots. Jessica had used her Evolutions on the other three in the Dungeon. He knew why they were here.

She expected a fight.

“Let’s start with the easiest issue, then: the Keys,” Rodriguez said. “They cannot be used as weapons. It endangers innocents, and the ARA’s whole mission is to prevent the spread of the Anomalies.”

“So what would you have us do with them?” Alin asked from Grey’s left.

Grey frowned. Something about the man’s words were stilted. Warning bells rung in his head. He was missing something. He was close, though.

“The ARA is ultimately a neutral entity, and as the acting third party in these negotiations, we would be more than willing to guard them in a decided-upon location. Designated members of the Hunters and the Guild would both be able to survey the location as often as you wished to ensure no foul play is taking place.”

Eastin frowned. “I have worries about your neutrality. The government has effectively collapsed, and they have been forced to hire parties such as my own to help stabilize the situation. Who pulls your strings?”

The agent nodded patiently. “I understand your concern,” she said. “What if we allowed all parties to have observers present at all times?”

“That is… more amenable.”

“Alin?”

Alin nodded. “Depending upon the specifics, we would have no problem with such an arrangement.”

How… easy. Grey sucked in a breath, Chi Breathing blasting through his skull. Something was afoot. Why was he agreeing so easily?

Jessica caught his eye. She was smirking. Her eyebrow lifted.

“Before we continue,” Eastin said. “I want the Keys stolen from my base turned over now.”

Alin shook his head. “They are our Keys. I will not be giving over our bargaining chips so easily.”

Hands went to weapons, and Jessica stepped forward, her hands held up. “Gentlemen, please. Would the Hunters be willing to turn over their Keys for the duration of the talks? Only to ensure they have been slowed.”

Grey leaned over. “We can’t turn them over if nobody else does theirs, right? Then we’re at a disadvantage.”

Alin nodded, but Jessica cut him off. “Fine, we will place the Keys in one place. All of ours. Is that agreeable?”

All parties agreed, and soon, three duffel bags sat in the center of the rooftop. All the Keys in one place. She had done it on purpose. She knew.

Jessica’s eyes matched his when the final bag reached its place. “Thank you for your cooperation.” The words carried the power of an Evolution, and the building descended into chaos.

Gunshots and roars of fighting rose from the building below, where members of the three groups had stood guard. One of the Guild members plunged a sword into Eastin’s back, and Kamaru killed the other with a blast of heat.

Hands gripped Grey, pressing a cold barrel to the back of his head and forcing him to his knees. His breath remained steady. Jessica watched it all impassively. When things calmed down, she spoke. A field went up around the rooftop, one that seemed to cut off his Dungeon Walker.

Grey thought. Mind control. It was fitting in a way, but it was clearly limited in some way else his mind would be dominated. His mind made the connection he had been getting close to. Clever.

“Bring him to me.”

The Hunters dragged him over to Jessica, who stood in front of the bags of Keys. They forced his head up. Made him meet her amber eyes. She stroked his cheek.

He opened his mouth to speak, but a gentle finger pressed into his lips.

“Grey,” she said. “I curse you.” A seizing pain ripped through his body, searing into his chest. Weakness flooded him. His eye twitched. A miscalculation. “Good, that should settle any tricks. When you are mine, we can be rid of such restraints. Until then, this will do.

“You played well.” She picked up a bag of Keys and poured them onto the rooftop. Then another. The last. Grey counted. The numbers weren’t right. She must have seen the panic on his face.

“Yes, I know about the Keys, about the twelve you need. Everything you’ve done, I knew about, Grey. Everything. I knew who you killed, I knew you pursued Keys, I knew, even, that you call yourself the Player. I knew that you experienced a strange Tutorial, that you were given information about the future. Every step forward you took was in the direction I wanted. Alin fell under my control since the Tutorial he and I shared. You lost before you even arrived here. Now, maybe, you will accept your place.”

“You’re wrong.”

“Oh,” she said. “Do tell.”

Grey leaned back into the gun until his head pressed firmly against the steel barrel, the strong hands still holding him down. He focused, seconds passing in silence. “I won.”

Battle plan started.

The gun barrel ripped from the hand of his assailant, and the metal concealed under his clothes expanded, forming a rough shell over his body. A thought lit some of the Keys at Jessica’s feet. A surge of Metallurgy brought others close enough to disappear into his Inventory.

Jessica’s eyes widened. A blue shield flickered into existence over her, courtesy of Alin. A blade swung for Grey’s head. The snap of gunfire cracked the air. It was too late.

The rooftop exploded. Grey slammed into the body behind him, the metal encasing his body protecting him from the worst of shrapnel. He hit the ground, bounced, and hit the ground again, the screech of grinding steel following him.

He stood a few moments later to ruin. The hints of a grin clawed at his lips before blossoming into a smile. He withdrew Keys from his Inventory, making sure he was behind the chalk line he had marked on the rooftop weeks ago. Jessica had taken the Diamond in one Iteration. He would gladly claim the other.

He left a single Gold in his Inventory, having more than enough for this, and willed them to combine. Moments later, he held a triangular piece of diamond. A notification filled his vision. He dismissed it. Not now. His body trembled with exhaustion, Chi Breathing no longer at his call. His head throbbed from the overuse of Metallurgy. It was an imperfect gambit, one that needed to end.

Jessica, who had somehow survived, laid on her back, having suffered major burns. The others around her were not so lucky. She had commanded them to sacrifice themselves for her. Very clever.

He stumbled forward, making sure his enemies were dead, and kneeled in front of her. Her breath rattled in her chest, and one of her eyes looked almost melted shut. A pang ran through his chest, one that made him hesitate. She was a worthy opponent, right? His equal...

“You were wrong, you know. Everything you did, I planned for. Revealing the importance of the Keys to you in the Dungeon, forcing you into sending me to the Hunters, all of it was on purpose, calculated. Getting the Keys wasn’t enough. I needed a trap for you, as well.

“And here we are.” He realized that even now he was putting on an act, so he dropped that, too. “Put me in my place?” The back of his hand traced the side of her jaw, her good eye following him lazily. “My place is above you. I am King. I am dominion.” He grabbed her jaw, forcing her to meet his eyes. “I am god.”

He heard the crack too late, the bullet having already entered the sixth sense provided by Metallurgy. He strained and forced the bullet to move, to bend, to anything. A roar escaped his throat, his own weakness and the curse put on him pressing down on his will.

It took him in the shoulder. Electricity raced through his body, stiffening him and dropping him limply. Jessica’s hoarse laugh filled his ears.

No. He wouldn’t die here. He couldn’t. His heartbeat filled his throat, images of the desert rising unbidden like a monster of the depths. There were no respawns here, not anymore.

He grabbed Jessica and pulled her over top of him, Chi Breathing answering his call for the briefest of moments. In that moment, his expanded senses heard brief shouts and footsteps pounding through the building, the guards below having settled their fights. He had a sneaking suspicion he knew which side won. Fine. Second plan it was.

Slowly, he stood, Jessica’s body between him and the sniper. When his back hit the roof’s ledge, he stopped, heads beginning to burst through the hatch that opened onto the rooftop. He drew a dagger and pressed it to her neck.

“Tell them to stay where they are. I’ll save you the song and dance. Let me escape, and you live. Don’t, and we both die.” Grey’s words were cold, leached of all emotion or urgency.

Her voice rasped out a moment later. “Stand down, stand down.”

“Make them stand on the other side of the roof. Away from the door.”

They did so, and Grey backed to the hatch, Jessica in front of him. He shut the door behind him. When he reached the bottom floor, he pressed the dagger in closer. There was a Dungeon close to here. He had only to reach it and escape through it.

Something hit the door above. It crashed a moment later. He made his way out of the door, his eyes running over the buildings around. The sniper shouldn’t have an angle on him, but he had to play this smart. He backed down the street. Jessica’s followers spilled out into the street.

He backed up another step. Close. “Stay back,” he said. “Stay back, or she dies.”

Another step. Then two. So damned close. A gun barrel raised. Swords pointed. He caught the flash of sunlight on a scope, the sniper having repositioned. He was about to make it, and-

Teeth sunk into his hand, and by reflex, he released. Jessica stumbled forward. He threw himself backwards. Guns fired. There.

Grey stepped into the Dungeon, the world disappearing around him. The bullet tasted only empty air. He fell to the ground, his mind well and truly exhausted. Pain raged through his whole body. He stood on a dirt path in the midst of a forest. He pulled his spear from his Inventory with his good hand and started limping.

The monsters would be coming.