The moment the man’s hand touched Daybreak Gleaming, a zillion things happened at once.

[Zone Broadcast: The group, Redskull Raiders, are now tagged as outlaws for 3 days. No PK or outlaw penalty will be assessed for players or guards who engage them.]

A dark, roiling, reddish-violet aura surrounded the three men. It wasn’t one of their own abilities taking effect, but rather it was the very demonstrable way the game indicated who was an outlaw or not. Unfortunately, from what little public information there was on other servers, the class of people inclined to turn outlaw almost saw the aura as a badge of pride rather than a deterrent, even if it handicapped them in other ways.

“Three against two!” A large, green woman in blue and gold leapt into action with a flying kick straight out of a Hong Kong action movie, knocked one of the flunkies over, and landed on him, very nearly using his body as a makeshift surfboard. Friction interfered, and she only sent him backward about five feet, however before she jumped off, landed with a backflip, and stood ready to strike again. “Bullies like you have no place in our community team!”

Daybreak Gleaming reared up, pulling herself free of the big man, and lashed out with her hooves once I gave her the mental command to fight. Ace meanwhile had darted to the right, between two trees at the edge of the avenue, and their five wooden dolls rushed the other flunky. “Three against EIGHT!” Ace exclaimed -- the two of us, their five golems, and my unicorn totalling eight. “Um, NINE, I guess,” they corrected as the stranger joined our fight.

“Red in tooth and claw, but redder still on thorns I saw: ⸢Barbed Roots⸥!

I hadn’t used that spell yesterday out of worry of the hatelist, but PvP operated on different rules. Besides, without Mikachu around, it was just going to be the golems and the unicorn that kept the enemies off us, anyway.

Nevertheless, I was impressed by the spell. Three barbed tendrils erupted from the ground in a triangle around the big man. Before he could react -- he was still reaching for Daybreak Gleaming -- the tendrils wrapped around his legs, effectively immobilizing him.

“What the [beep]!” he yelled as he tried to dodge the unicorn’s kick and pull himself free of my spell at the same time.

Well, he didn’t actually say “beep,” but apparently DVI had a bad word filter, so whatever he had actually said was censored out before it could be heard.

I took a brief moment to survey the field of battle, trying to figure out who would need the healing spells first and whether a Bramble Shield on anyone would be a good idea.

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Despite his disadvantage in not actually having the element of surprise and being effectively immobilized, the big man was holding his own against Daybreak Gleaming, wielding his massive club as both weapon and shield.

Likewise, one of his minions was doing a pretty good job of evading Ace’s golems. It kept him occupied and out of the bigger fight, but they didn’t appear to be doing any appreciable damage … or really even landing any blows. He was just too quick for them. Ace was staying out of the fray, back between the trees, directing their golems in the fight.

The second flunky, however, was in much worse shape, having been caught unawares by the attack from our mysterious benefactress. However, he had a pair of daggers and a decent amount of agility, and she only had her fists and feet. He had already landed at least one slash on her if the red streak on her arm was any indication. So there, as a healer, was my first priority.

“⸢Wyld Regrowth⸥!” The spell had no chant, just the activation and a short cooldown, but the effects were just as dramatic and pronounced as the first time I had cast it. Ghostly vines wrapped around the arms and torso of the green-skinned woman, pulsing slowly as each tick of regeneration undid the damage the ruffian’s blades had caused.

Unfortunately, the effect startled her, and she tried to brush them off, accidentally giving the man an opening. He slashed his blades wildly, landing another strike before she recovered and sent him flying with a kick that turned into a backflip.

“Sorry, got another spell coming your way,” I yelled to her. “The Wyld Harvest awaits, ⸢Wyld Berry Aura⸥!

Since she wasn’t actually in the group with Ace and me, I couldn’t see her health, but given that she fought at melee range, she needed it more than Ace or I did, though one of Ace’s golems had a blade stuck through its little wooden chest.

It wasn’t bleeding, of course, but it’s health had significantly depleted. On the other hand, that lackey was partially disarmed. I cast a Wyld Regrowth at the golem, and turned my attention back to Daybreak Gleaming and the unicorn’s encounter with the bigger man.

Just in time to see the spell immobilizing him start to fall apart. “Oh, no you don’t! Red in tooth and claw ….” I refreshed the spell, and directed Daybreak Gleaming to disengage. Having essentially three one-v-one fights wasn’t working well for us, but if the big guy stayed immobilized long enough, we should be able to defeat them piecemeal.

Daybreak Gleaming reared up, whinnied -- which echoed off the nearby buildings -- and charged the flunky fighting the green woman, shouldering him off-balance just as she launched another flying kick at him.

I was strongly reminded of Mika, and how she saved me from a bully with a flying kick of her own nearly a decade ago. This, however, did more than just kick the bigger kid down into the sandbox. The green-skinned woman’s kick connected with an audible crack, and he was down for the count, a little gravestone icon floating above his immobile body. Both body and icon disappeared when he released and was sent to respawn.

The other minion’s agility had been serving him well against Ace’s golems, but it wasn’t enough when my unicorn and the green-skinned woman joined that scuffle. Daybreak Gleaming didn’t do much damage on her own -- I guess it would have been too overpowered for me to have had a very effective combat summon in addition to everything else I was -- but she was larger, and harder to dodge. Between the unicorn’s horn, the woman’s kicks, and the little golems bashing away with their wooden fists, he quickly succumbed to the blows and was sent to respawn as well.

That just left the big man.