The combat and chaos faded into the background. A single moment stretched out into an impossibly long second while Severance stared.

It was her.

The one that had kicked Rasin's mutilated body.
The one that had called him trash.
The one who had laughed.

No, he thought, and pressed a hand against his chest, because it hurt and the cause of all that hurt was standing right there in front of him.

He tore his eyes away from her, taking in the other players with her. He didn't remember any of the names, or faces of the players who'd attacked him and Rasin that day. Except hers. Those eyes. That sneer. The utter lack of care for what she'd done.

No, he sneered back. The single word swelled in his mind, cold and dark and hard.

Motion made his gaze snap back to her. She was lifting her tempest chain, preparing to let fly. He locked eyes with her.

No. He felt nothing but an absolute certainty now. He knew what he had to do.

Severance lunged forward, time snapping back into place. She moved, the others moved, but he was faster, making sure she was in range.

And then he unleashed an electrical blast of energy so bright and so strong that it boomed through the air like a thunderclap. She and every one of the defenders went rigid, paralyzed by the blue sparks that danced over their bodies. Her face had frozen in a look of complete shock, while blood trickled out of her nose.

But Severance took no satisfaction in that. There was only a black roar inside his head, and it propelled him forward. He didn't even stop to think about what he was doing.

Three quick steps brought him in range. There was an armored ridge to her collar, protecting her neck, so he grabbed her hair and yanked her head back, exposing the soft expanse of her throat. Her eyes widened further, but she couldn't otherwise move.

He slashed his fan once through the air. Its teeth ripped open her throat.

He wasn't done yet, either

"Skyfall!" The skill had been upgraded when he'd hit level 35, and now he could see the difference. What had once been mere cuts became gashes, and the unprotected parts of her became little more than pieces of raw meat. The last and fifth cut of Skyfall sundered her arm from her body completely.

+1 Intelligence

She didn't fall, still paralyzed, but he watched the blood spurt out. Some of it splattered against his face, hot and wet. He didn't even blink. It came out in rivers, too much, too fast, and he saw the light bleed from her eyes.

But that wasn't enough. It didn't make anything better. Nor did it settle the tormented roar in his mind or soothe the empty ache in his heart.

She was an Outsider. She'd come back again and again, and no matter how many times he killed her, she'd come back. It wasn't fair. Rasin couldn't return, but she could?

His fingers ached as they tightened around his war fans. He clenched his teeth and the dark roar only shrieked louder in his head. It wasn't fair! Why was there no consequence for what she did? Why was Rasin the only one who had to pay?

The sparks of his Suppression began to fade. The stunned players began to twitch, about to break free. Members of his team swept past him then, falling upon the players before they could escape.

Severance barely noticed them. He stared into those fading viridian eyes, and realized there really was only one thing he could do.

"Every time I see you," he told her quietly, "I'm going to kill you."

And then the Suppression broke. Someone grabbed the back of Severance's coat and yanked, nearly jerking him off his feet. Golden eyes flashed at him before he was shoved roughly behind a gray and blue wall of armor.

"Stay behind me," Jack snarled, and the world shifted back into sharp, terrible focus. Their team had already wiped out the defending players, and now teams 2 and 3 quickly moved into place, forming a line of their own defense.

The two dungeon teams didn't need to be told twice. They ran into the swirling gray-purple light and vanished inside the dungeon.

Jack bellowed, "Retreat!"

By twos and threes, their people began to teleport out of there, blinking out of existence and leaving nothing behind. The tanks covered their departure, protecting them from any attempts to stop them.

And then Severance was shaken roughly, a hand clamping down on his shoulder. "Get out of here," Jack growled, his expression tight with barely suppressed displeasure. "Go!"

With a start, Severance realized he'd been staring at the player he'd just killed. Her body was lifting into the air in a swirl of silver light as someone Revived her. He took one last look at her, at her name, his hands clenching so tightly that it hurt.

Maeve Makasa. I will remember you.

He turned away, touching the teleport ring on his finger. He fled.

***

Severance opened his eyes to the busy center of Ascendance. With so many players teleporting in at once, it was crowded and noisy. He barely noticed any of it.

His hands trembled, and no matter how he clenched them, he couldn't get it to stop. He felt cold and empty, even as something warm and wet slid dripped from his chin. Jaw tight, he stared blankly ahead, his mind full of shocked viridian eyes.

It wasn't enough.

The hole inside him still hurt, still bled, and slitting her throat as he did hadn't done a single thing to soothe it. She was just another player, he knew. Death meant nothing to her in Eliona. She'd come back every time, and all he had done was ensure she'd remain an enemy.

Good, he thought bitterly. Maybe if she focused on him, she'd be too busy to kill anyone else from his clan.

"Hey!" Someone grabbed him.

Severance spun and took two quick steps back. His hands raised, a split second away from calling his war fans from Inventory. Every muscle tensed, nerves alight with an icy fire.

"Dude, chill!" Awesome Dude raised his hands in a placating manner. "It's just me."

It took a moment for that to sink in, and Severance suddenly felt ashamed. This was his friend, for crying out loud. He forced himself to stand down, though he couldn't get rid of the tension thrumming through him.

I cut open her throat. The thought popped into his mind very suddenly.

It should have sickened him. But it didn't. He just felt lost. And guilty, because he should feel something. Hurting others was a terrible thing. It was wrong, on every level.

He shouldn't have attacked Maeve Makasa like that. That wasn't him.

But if he had the chance -
I'd do it again.

His fingers curled into tight, painful fists.

"Sev, buddy. You okay?" Awesome Dude came closer. "What happened? You're covered in blood. Did you get attacked?"

"No." Severance closed his eyes and turned his head away. The concern in the Shade's eyes unsettled him. He didn't deserve it.

"But that's a lot of blood, man. What'd you do, blow someone up?" Awesome Dude laughed, because both of them knew that a Battle Dancer didn't have the capability. It was a ridiculous notion.

Severance didn't laugh. He exhaled slowly. "It's nothing."

The humor faded from his friend's face. "Sev?" He asked, very softly. "What happened?"

"What happened," a new voice cut in, "is that he didn't follow orders."

A tall, armor-clad form strode towards them. Jack Coyote positively glowered. Instinctively, people shuffled out of his way, clearing a path.

Severance wanted to get out of the way as well, yet that cold stare pinned him in place. He was distantly aware of Awesome Dude standing with him, and Severance felt a ridiculous amount of gratitude for that

With a swirl of blue silk, Jack Coyote came to a stop before him. Even though their height was similar, the tank somehow towered over him.

"I told you to pull back," Jack said. Each word was shaped out of titanium and coated with a frigid layer of ice. "But instead, you decided to act out on your own. Tell me, healer, was it worth it? Was it worth jeopardizing the entire mission?"

"I-" Severance opened his mouth, but words fled from his mind. The anger he sensed from the tank was unnerving. Yet he couldn't even begin to fathom why this conversation was happening.

It was just a joint mission between a bunch of random players to help others get past the blockade. It was successful in the end and no one had even died. So, what was Jack's problem?

It grew quiet around them as people started to take notice of what was happening. They kept their distance, but seemed more than happy to watch without interfering. Severance paled. This felt like he was trapped in a room with Carly and her friends all over again. The stares, the mocking grins, the dozen eyes pinning him to the spot like a bug on a board.

"You had one job," Jack stepped closer, getting into Severance's space, and it was all Severance could do to keep himself from moving back. "That means you do it, and then you fall back. You're lucky no one took you down. If they had, then our team would have to launch a much more complicated rescue mission that we wouldn't have been prepared for. Your reckless stupidity put everyone at risk."

Severance flinched. Not once had Jack raised his voice, but he might as well have. He felt like he'd been slapped in the face. Repeatedly. It wasn't fair.

The tank had no idea about why Severance did what he did, and he probably wouldn't even understand. What would he know about seeing someone he deeply cared for slaughtered before him by some unfeeling monster?

Jack had no freaking clue.

Standing rigidly, Severance lifted his chin. He was unaware of the blood still wet on his face, splattered across cheeks and nose. "I didn't expect anyone to rescue me if I fell."

Well, except for Nedra, but Jack didn't know that.

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say, because the tank's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. And then he stepped even closer, to the point there was barely a foot of space between them.

"I don't leave my people behind," Jack hissed. "So if one falls, we all fall. There is a reason I gave you those orders, and it wasn't so you could try to kill yourself."

Wait, what?

What sort of reasoning was that?

Severance didn't have anything to counteract that statement, because what kind of player thought it was better to sacrifice the whole team instead of leaving one behind to save the rest? It was bizarre, especially since to them, it was just some video game. Jack, he mused, took this team leader business far too seriously.

He felt the attention of those watching, could almost sense their amusement at his misfortune and their relief that they hadn't been the ones to run afoul of Jack Coyote. It was kind of sad, really. With a long exhale, all the tension left Severance. Now he just felt tired.

None of these people had a single clue.

"Hey, come on man," Awesome Dude intervened. "Everything turned out okay, so there's no need to be so-"

Jack's golden eyes snapped to Awesome Dude. "I'm not talking to you, Shade."

There was an audible click as Awesome Dude's mouth snapped shut. He stubbornly refused to move, but even he couldn't find anything to say. Severance didn't blame him. It was like standing before a wall that reflected all attacks back at them.

"You have a responsibility, healer." He raised a gloved hand and jabbed Severance in the chest with a finger. There wasn't any real force behind it. "To your team, to keep them alive. And to yourself, to stay alive. What use is a healer who takes stupid risks? Each time you put yourself in danger, you're putting your team in danger."

That, Severance supposed, was not wrong. He silently looked at Jack, and tried to see it from his point of view. And suddenly, he felt ashamed.

He'd seen that player and lost all sense of reason. He'd killed her, without even thinking about the consequences or how it would affect those around him. Even if he hadn't expected them to help if he'd gotten in trouble, Nedra would have.

He could have risked Nedra's life.

Worst case scenario, she could have died. Like Rasin. His mouth went dry.

"You're right," he softly said. "I'm sorry."

"What?" Awesome Dude exclaimed. "Sev, you don't have to-"

"That player did something that I will never forgive," Severance ignored his friend's protests. Lavender met gold, quiet determination clashing with unyielding ice. "I saw her and forgot about everything else. I wasn't thinking."

"So you ignored the plan for the sake of revenge." Jack's tone was perfectly frosty. And something like disappointment lurked in his expression.

Severance almost looked away. Having that kind of look directed at him... he didn't like it. It reminded him of his failure, his flaws, and even though he didn't know this player, didn't care what he thought, something recoiled at the sight of that disapproval.

"I just want to make it so she can't hurt anyone else. Is that revenge?"

Jack looked at him in silence. And then his expression thawed by about two degrees. "No," he said. "That's justice."

Justice, huh? That sounded about right to Severance. Maybe that was why he wasn't satisfied with just killing her. That wouldn't stop her. It only slowed her down.

"Next time," Jack stated, and though his voice still remained as frigid as ever, he didn't seem to be glaring quite so hard, "remember your responsibility to your team. Think before you act."

With that, the tank turned in a flash of silver and blue and strode off. Severance watched him go. Oddly enough, he felt lighter, like some of the weight he'd been carrying had been taken away.

Justice.

It sounded a lot better than murder.