For a few minutes, everyone stood there unsure what to do. Martin was crying like a little child, clutching the ticket of his daughter in law.

Eventually, Remy was the first to react. “Not to be a dick or anything, but that guy is a serial killer. It’s real sad that his daughter died, sure, but that doesn’t excuse what he did.”

“Yeah, that’s right!” Carter said. “We should take away his items and detain him!”

“Like hell you are!” Gunther said, stepping forward.

“Dude, I don’t think this guy is going to be of much use to us now.” Seith muttered into Gunther's ear.

“You want to wear that ring, then?” Gunther hissed back. “Even as a blubbering mess he’ll take those skulls for us.”

Corey stepped back from Martin towards his two mates, Elise making way enough that he and Bea could regroup with them. Thomas squeezed through the other way and Darryl plugged the gap.

After that little shuffle, Martin was flanked from one side by Corey’s gang and Gunther’s on the other. Darryl’s group was behind Corey’s group, away from Martin but at least blocking them all off from the general direction of the camp. Slowly, the two groups backed off from one another two create two fronts without anyone surrounded by enemies.

“Stand down, you sod.” Corey grunted at Gunther. “We’re not going to fight amongst one another, don’t be an idiot. Let’s just get this guy out of here so he can cry out.”

“It’s a damn shame that we’re not going to strike first.” Elise muttered. “This would be a good opportunity and we really shouldn’t just let these guys go.”

“She’s right.” Carter nodded. “Why are we even waiting patiently for these guys? They’re murderers and should be stopped!”

“We don’t want to escalate things, and we might need their strength facing the Borough Boss.” Thomas whispered back.

“I don’t know, from the sound of it they’re still plan to kill people even if we’ll be facing that Borough Boss. Especially if we’re going to face it.” Darryl said. “At this point we either have to decide to intervene or leave the camp to fend for itself. We can’t keep protecting them only to end up dead by timeout ourselves.”

“But…” Ben said. “These people…”

“No, I agree.” Elise said. “We’ve been in a stalemate because we’re not making the call, and even then we only did so because we didn’t actually have to babysit these people the entire time. We’ve kept moving and grinding to some extent, but now we’d have to guard the entire time. And we never discussed whether we will do that.”

“No! We can’t just let these people go!” Remy said, Carter nodding fervently.

“But are we willing to get skulls to protect strangers?” Thomas asked. “This place doesn’t allow for us to just wait around for days trying to finagle some concession from around the only two solutions. We have to either act now, or not act at all.”

“Strangers?” Martin said. “Strangers!? Her name was Kate! You were supposed to protect her! To protect the camp! And yet here you are, even after letting so many die, talking about leaving them for your own convenience!”

“Dude, are you saying th-” Ben said.

“No! No, no, no, no, NO!” Martin wailed. “You let her die! You all failed to protect her and the others while forcing me to stay away! I couldn’t be there for her! Your fault! Procrastinating and shirking your duties, and look what happened!”

Nobody said anything, though no one actually felt the guilt of his words. Even the rest of Epsilon seemed a bit embarrassed for Martin’s sake, as the old man himself clearly didn’t want to see the irony of his words.

“I thought you were worthy, that you were strong! But you guys failed and chose yourself time after time, failing the people! Yes, clearly it’s all your fault…” Martin muttered. “If you cannot protect people here, then how can you protect them on the floors to come? Worthless! Useless! Unworthy!”

Martin got up, brandishing his dagger. “You…”

Corey placed a hand on his shoulder. “Not now, Martin. You’re out of mana, we’ve got two more tickets to claim and-”

“No! No more waiting! We finish this now!” Martin said, slapping away his hand.

Corey wanted to say something, but Gunther and Seith took positions next to Martin and prepared themselves. He just sighed wearily and got ready.

“So, what’s the plan?” Elise asked.

“Defend, make sure they can’t kill any of us.” Darryl said.

“I mean: Do we kill or not? I don’t think they’re going to give us the choice to procrastinate on the decision anymore.” Elise said.

“I’ll take the skulls if needed.” Thomas said. “Someone is going to have to do it, and I’m not a social person anyway. Plus, I’ve got the range to do it quick and efficient.”

“I’d volunteer, but I know how people see me. If I get skulls, they won’t swallow our excuse.” Elise said. “Not to mention how my berserker build will make people think I killed while bloodlusted, maybe even in friendly fire.”

“Actually, you know what? Fuck it.” She continued, spitting to the side. “I’ll take the skulls if needed, fuck what others will think.”

“No, you can’t do that!” Ben said. “You’re our charismatic envoy! We need you to talk to others!”

“Then we’ll have to find someone else to do that. I suck at it anyway.” Elise said.

“I’ll…” Ben said. “I already have a skull. If anyone has to do it, it should be me.”

“I’ll d-” Darryl spoke up.

“No you won’t.” All three said in unison, before turning back to argue amongst one another.

“But-”

“Even if you had your right arm to kill with, we’re not going to let you bear that burden. We know you would, that doesn’t mean we should take you up on it.” Elise shrugged off his continued offer. “I should do it, I’m the least likely to be haunted by it mentally.”

Thomas just slowly raised an eyebrow at that.

“Okay, fine. You and I wouldn’t necessarily get nightmares doing this.” Elise conceded. “Ben, you’re out. We’re not going to let you kill again after what that first skull did to you.”

This time it was Ben’s turn to sputter, only for everyone to unite against him.

“No, Ben. We appreciate that you’d do this for us, but you don’t have to.” Darryl said.

“So, why are we just standing here instead of pressing the attack?” Seith asked Martin.

“Just realized that I’m just one minute away from recovering a mana point. We fight now, but if they don’t attack right away then we can use a few more moments.” Martin said.

“I do have a trickle of health left to regenerate.” Gunther said. “And you should put on those magical items you looted, Boots, they may end up saving your life.”

“Right, so Darryl and Ben are out.” Elise said. “Jude-”

“Is not going to do this!” Remy interrupted.

“I was going to say: Jude doesn’t even have the offensive means to finish someone off.” Elise said. “And you’re not a great damage dealer yourself. So you’re both out, we can’t expect these guys to patiently wait for you to come over and clobber them.”

“I can- If need be, I can do it.” Carter said, after a long pause and clearly reluctant to say the words.

“Alright, so we’ve got me, Elise and Carter volunteering for the job.” Thomas said. “As you two don’t have ranged options to deliver the finishing blow from a distance, you’re out. I do it.”

“Wait, but-” Elise said.

“Elise. Don’t worry about me, I’ve got this.” Thomas said.

Elise flustered. “Well, alright. If you insist.”

“Yeah, thanks man.” Carter said, relieved.

On the other side of the hall, Seith lost his balance and fell over trying to put on pants without taking off his own first.

“Alright, so you guys just bring down their health, I’ll finish them off.” Thomas said.

“We should focus on Martin first. Once he dies, the others will probably retreat and we avoid further casualties.” Darryl said. “Without him they’ll get skulls for murder.”

“Three, two, one. Let’s go.” Martin said.

Seith dusted himself off, trying to make it cool despite everyone knowing fully well where the dirt came from, as Martin and Gunther advanced.

Darryl readied his Paladin Plate Protector, and next to him Remy raised his own shield to form the world’s smallest shield wall together. Elise just stood there, letting her intimidating aura speak for her. Carter and Ben were poised to strike, but unsure how to actually do that while behind the others.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

But there were still just eight of them, and half were barely battle-worthy, facing off against twelve foes decked out in gold gear and with several experienced brawlers amongst them.

Thomas R. Haanen has left the party!

At the same moment, Epsilon charged in.

Gunther’s pike flared up in bright blue flames as he thrusted it at the gap between the two shields. Before Darryl could intercept it, it flew through. Ben let out a hoarse grunt as the flames licked his leg, but he managed to dodge most of it.

A black-feathered arrow went right for Thomas’s face, only to swerve towards Darryl’s shield. The moment it flew past him the unnatural attraction disappeared, and the arrow dug itself into Carter’s shoulder.

The next moment Seith swung his mace, making it clash against Darryl’s shield. He screamed in surprise and dropped his weapon as the skin of his hands burst open from the reflected damage. Darryl took out a torch and held it out, forcing Seith to stumble back into Tall.

Next to him, Remy wasn’t faring so well against Martin and Gunther’s unified efforts. His barely magical shield managed to cover him enough to keep both weapons at bay, but once Martin pressed his attack Remy would have to give ground quickly to survive.

On the other side of the hallway, Elise and Corey were staring each other down. He cracked his knuckles, she grinned sharply, he wrapped his chain around his fist and she coyly twirled her blood-covered bat between her fingers.

Jude healed Carter while Seith pushed his way past Tall to get to Epsilon’s three healers. Tall, clearly not intending to follow Seith’s example, didn’t attack Darryl’s shield. Instead he grabbed one of the tattoos on his arm and pulled it off, the flame remaining two-dimensional for a second before turning real.

Darryl raised his shield and the fire exploded against it, failing to find any purchase on the element-resistant shield but compensating for it by flailing in every other direction.

“Aw, come on! That was a one-time item!” Small jumped back, shielding himself with his broadsword. Martin and Remy were slower to react, the old man jumping back into Gunther while Remy screamed in surprise and pain.

As Jude screamed along with her boyfriend and immediately tried to douse the flames with her bare hands, Darryl got a harsh reminder that these two were still level six with bronze and silver box items. Remy was already on a quarter-health while the flames barely took a tenth of Martin’s health.

Darryl stepped forwards into the gap that the fireball created, covering Remy’s vulnerable position. Martin turned to him and readied his dagger, while Tall held his broadsword sideways to shield the both of them.

Elise struck, and Corey punched her bat. There was a loud clash sending out shockwaves that Darryl could actually feel, though they didn’t cause any actual damage, and both parties were sent reeling back.

Off to the side, Earl screamed as Cuddles bit at his shins, waving his dagger at the critter while Cuddles dodged the blade with surprising skill.

“Martin, what the hell?!” Seith shouted from the back lines. But in the heat of things, no one could spare a moment to ask him what he meant.

A dart shot out at Elise, barely missing her. Ben fired a crossbow bolt at Small, who almost contemptuously slapped it aside with his lead pipe before reloading his blowpipe. Behind him, Bea threw a few cards at Elise, who quickly blocked them with her bat. A two of diamonds and a five of clubs bounced off harmlessly, but the seven of clubs actually dug itself into the metal.

She ignored it, pressing the attack before Corey could. He punched her bat again, deflecting the blow but grunting in pain as the card he punched through seemed to increase the potency of the strike.

Things weren’t going so well for Darryl, who was competing with three enemies now. As Remy continued to burn behind him, Darryl had to move his shield around to keep both Martin and Tall off of him. His only saving grace was that Tall had an impractically large and cumbersome weapon that didn’t lend itself well for tight hallways, making his strikes slow and predictable.

Martin pressed the advantage of his much more environment-appropriate dagger, stabbing into Darryl’s shield over and over again. Moving it between three enemies meant that Darryl couldn’t get his Stalwart reflection damage up, and his right arm wasn’t nearly fast enough to hit Martin with the torch.

“Fire!”

A bright flash of red and yellow struck Martin, taking almost half his health in one hit. He struck out to the sudden assailant, but wavered when he saw Alexa. She parried his dagger with her bax axe, confidence bolstered even though Martin would’ve struck and killed her had he not broken off his attack in all haste.

“Child, this is no place for you!” Martin said, stepping back. “Leave a-”

There was a bloodcurdling scream behind them, and they turned to look.

Jude let out another agonized cry as Gunther pulled his pike out of her husband, and a new skull bloomed above Martin’s head.

“No!” Martin shouted. “Damn it, they’ve been helping people this whole time!”

Ignoring his leader’s outburst, Gunther stabbed at the prone and tear-blinded Jude. Darryl slapped his pike aside, the haft knocking into Tall’s next strike and parrying it.

On the other side, Elise struck again and this time Corey parried instead of punching the bat head-on. Elise lost her balance as he knocked it aside, but Ben jumped into the fray and lashed out at Corey.

Small hastily broke off his next ranged attack to strike at Ben and deflect the attack, but Ben stepped sideways to slip past Small and made an already loaded crossbow appear in his free hand. Bea’s eyes widened in surprise and she hastily jumped to the side. His bolt still found her hip, and she gasped in pain as she fell to the floor. She dropped her new draw, cards fading out of existence as they hit the ground.

Gunther stepped back, leaving Jude be to instead stab at Darryl’s head. Tall picked up on his intent and crouched down to hack at his legs, forcing Darryl to quickly crouch down himself to cover his whole body.

“You go low; I need room to swing!” Tall shouted, standing back up again and holding his sword high for a powerful downward strike.

Darryl braced himself, and Tall waited for Gunther to stab first. The lanky kid clearly remembered what happened to Seith before, and wasn’t eager to repeat his mistake with an even stronger attack.

A moment passed with nothing happening, and then a black-feathered arrow curved right past Tall’s side to clank against Darryl’s shield and shatter upon impact. Tall ignored the small scratch that the arrow left, but then jumped back as Alexa struck out at his leg.

Now Gunther reacted, lunging at the little girl. Darryl moved to intercept the blow, but he moved too slowly. Alexa’s eyes widened in surprise and fear, and she held up her axe in a way that would soften but not stop the blow.

Then the pike went off course, knocking into Darryl’s shield as Martin kicked it aside. The next moment, the old man stabbed Gunther.

“We don’t kill children!” Martin said, unapologetically pulling the blade out of Gunther’s side.

“Dude, the hell!?” Gunther said, clutching his side as a red stain rapidly grew. Then he glowed green and his health rose and stabilized. “You could’ve just s-”

Gunther screamed as a bolt of fire hit him right in the head, melting off his left cheek to expose his teeth. His pike clattered on the ground as he grabbed his face and screamed. His health rose rapidly as he popped a potion, and the flames dissipated.

Then a bolt of light blue and white struck the same spot, freezing his hands onto his still melting skin. Gunther didn’t scream this time. He just fell to the ground, his frozen face shattering as his body hit the ground.

Martin gained another skull. Darryl looked over to Thomas, and saw that he had indeed joined Epsilon at some point.

“Two people just died. That should be enough bloodshed for today.” Thomas said. “Because even though my next spell will consume all of my mana, Chain Lightning will kill most of you. I strongly suggest you all leave now.”

Martin gulped, but his resolve seemed to hold. “Very well. Ladies, leave. You shouldn’t get caught up in this.”

“Martin, don’t do this.” Darryl said. “What will this even accomplish?”

“You know what. You know why.” Martin said, as he grabbed his cross and held it out as if to evoke the power of Christ upon a demon. “Sacred Flame!”

The holy fire immediately went off course as Darryl’s shield pulled it away from Thomas, the fire flying off into the empty hallway behind them.

“Martin, stand down.” Thomas said.

“Sacred Flame!” Martin shouted, before pushing Darryl aside and running at Thomas.

He screamed and fell as Alexa struck at his leg, carving a deep gash into his calf.

“Alexa, stop! You’ll be branded if you do this!” Thomas shouted, as Alexa raised her axe above her head to finish the job.

She didn’t listen, but Darryl grabbed her shoulder and pulled her away. He gritted his teeth in pain as his wound immediately tore open, his fingers too weak to give Alexa more than a distracting jerk before his right arm clenched up and let go.

“Darryl, are you okay?” Alexa worried, turning around with her killing intent already forgotten.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me.” Darryl said.

Turning around to defend himself against Tall, who hadn’t capitalized on the opening before, Darryl found that the lanky kid retreated a good ten metres back along with the rest of the group. They were standing there, each a few paces away from the others as they cautiously watched what was transpiring.

There was a dull thud behind him, and Martin gasped involuntarily.

“Don’t just beat an old man, Thomas. If you want to stop me, you’re going to have to kill me.” Martin rasped out. “If you don’t, I’ll kill you instead.”

Martin jumped up and lunged at Thomas, who threw him back with another Magic Missile to the chest. Martin’s health dropped down to just a sliver, but he still lived.

“Come on, finish it!” Martin groaned, trying to work through the pain to get back up.

“Stop this, Martin. You lost.” Thomas said.

“Careful, he hasn’t used a potion yet!” Ben said. “He still has a second wind in him!”

“No, he doesn’t.” Darryl said. “Potion or not, he has no intention to heal himself. Do you, Martin?”

Martin didn’t say anything and rheumy eyes looked into Darryl's, pleading.

Martin Shatner sent you a request to join the party Epsilon! Accepting this automatically makes you leave Ben’s Party! Accept? Y/N

Darryl declined.

Martin scrambled up and lashed out at Thomas again. Thomas just stepped back, the swing missing him so widely that dodging might’ve been unnecessary to begin with.

Martin Shatner sent you a request to join the party Epsilon! Accepting this automatically makes you leave Ben’s Party! Accept? Y/N

No.

“Come on!” Martin shouted at Thomas, who just stepped back again as the old man lashed out at him. “Come on! Do it! Kill me!”

Martin Shatner sent you a request to join the party Epsilon! Accepting this automatically makes you leave Ben’s Party! Accept? Y/N

The necklace around his neck disappeared, followed by the thorn crown on his head. The robes vanished next, exposing Martin’s wrinkled but hale body, leaving only white undies and socks that were both showing the stains one would expect on clothes worn for over a week.

There were two dark red circles on his body where the magic missiles struck, surrounded by the red stains of internal bleeding. Blood was still flowing freely from his calf wound, slowly diminishing his leftover health, and there were specks of blood around his lips.

Martin Shatner sent you a request to join the party Epsilon! Accepting this automatically makes you leave Ben’s Party! Accept? Y/N

Darryl looked at Alexa, and the wound that was slowly killing Martin. If he died, then technically…

You left Ben’s Party! You are now a member of team Epsilon!

Martin Shatner is offering a trade! Accept? Y/N

Darryl looked at the trade and frowned at the suggestion, but accepted. All of Martin’s gear, items and all of his tickets poured into Darryl’s inventory.

Before he could say anything, Martin turned around and lunged at Darryl. Before Darryl could even react, the knife struck his shield with a loud clang.

“Martin, stop it! Why are you doing this!?” Darryl asked.

“I told you.” Martin croaked out through gritted teeth. “I did this for Kate. I wanted to protect her, to save the last family I had.”

He coughed, smiling a wry grin red with blood. “But I guess that I can only save you guys, now. Do me a favour and give my gear to someone that needs it to survive. Kate can't inherit them now.”

Martin lashed out again, striking the shield and reflecting the damage. His health dropped to zero, and the old man slumped to the ground. One more skull appeared above his head before they all faded away.

Darryl ignored the achievement he got for killing someone, crouching down. He ignored Martin’s inventory popping up, completely empty aside from Kate Shatner’s ticket, as he picked up the lifeless body.

“Why?” Darryl asked the lifeless eyes.

Thomas bent over and took the metal band from Martin’s finger. “I’ll be taking this. We don't want a murder crusade sequel.”

“How did you know what Martin was planning?” Darryl whispered to him.

“Leaving your party, you mean?” Thomas said. “I actually just did that to prevent getting your tickets once I took a life. Martin inviting me was a surprise for me too.”

Darryl made Martin disappear into his inventory and got an achievement for it, and Thomas picked up the dagger.

As they stood up, Corey looked at his friends and turned around. He walked away, Small and Tall right behind him and Bea to his side. Seith seemed like he wanted to object, but Earl and Poncho were already following their leader’s lead.