K-792 barreled toward him.

Severance spun to the right and sprinted for all he was worth. After twenty paces, he skidded to a stop, pivoting to face Morning Glory's body. His fans fluttered as he focused, silvery wind whirling around him.

"Revive!"

K-792's massive body as it roared past, missing him by a mere two feet. Players were running about, calling out, but he ignored them. His focus was on Morning Glory on the other side of the arena. The Boss jerked to a stop, turned to face a new direction—Valipn4ifw was right in its new path—and took off.

Wind blasted off Severance towards Morning Glory. He didn't wait to see it reach her. Instead, he made a beeline for the Boss as it screeched across the arena once more. Curving sharply, he fell in behind it.

It was easier to avoid its next charge if he stayed in its wake.

+1 Agility

Congratulations, Severance! You have reached Level 39.

Severance kept behind it. There was someone else running close by.

He glanced over, saw a limping Ironhide. A few steps behind him was Mr Snowman. The cryomancer gave a little wave when he noticed Severance's gaze. It was almost like he was having fun running for his life.

And then K-792 came to a stop for a second time. It'd gone as far as it could go, and it had succeeded in flattening Valipn4ifw in the process. Now it turned once more, a laborious motion, with one corner of its frame digging into the ground. It kept going until it faced them. Severance and the others immediately scattered out of its way.

K-792 roared past, leaving sparks in its wake. Severance ran through them, ignoring as they stung his legs. Once he was clear, he angled back towards Morning Glory. She was just getting back to her feet. The other surviving players began to gather near her, making themselves available for much needed healing.

Severance drew near and stopped. "Counter Gale!"

The skill spun him around once, and as he turned on the tip of a toe, green wind blasted off him in a dizzying swirl. Everyone it touched gained a precious chunk of health in an instant.

Morning Glory followed suit, applying a Regeneration skill to help.

"Get the Valentin up first," Jack Coyote commanded. "We need his damage to finish this." Then he went to meet the Boss once more.

Soft tones rang out as Morning Glory recast her shields.

"Can you get him?" Severance asked her. "I'm on cooldown."

"Sure," She immediately set about doing just that. "When you can, do Mr Softee next. He should be able to resummon his Phoenix to help."

Severance gave her a tired smile. "Right. We can do this."

With Jack Coyote holding K-792's attention, Severance settled in by the ruined wheel. Morning Glory resumed her original position at the Boss's back end, several yards away.

"Restoring Step," Severance murmured. His weapons scratched metal, but did little else for the frost had entirely melted. That didn't matter though; the skill still restored some of Jack's health.

"Give us some snow, guys!" Awesome Dude shouted on the other side of the boss. Somehow, he'd managed to survive the latest robot shenanigans just fine. "Can't do squat here!"

"Hold on," Mr Snowman yelled back. Severance didn't have to look back to know the cryomancer was doing something. He could feel the temperature plummet behind him.

"Your fear smells delicious," K-792 said, which was totally not creepy at all. Its optical lens swiveled around. "Targeting..."

"You can shut up," Severance muttered. "Sky Dance. Suppress!"

The electrical blast slammed into the Boss, bursting apart in a dazzling display of crackling energy. It made K-792 freeze in place for a few seconds, its brains all but scrambled.

"Haha!" Awesome Dude crowed. "Nice, Sev!"

Severance didn't quite smile, but he did feel a savage sort of satisfaction. He unleashed a Skyfall for good measure, before Mr Snowman warned them to back away.

The cryomancer had managed to create and contain a roaring blizzard, which he held in outstretched hands over his head. The cloud was dark and squirming, and it howled as if it were alive.

Mr Snowman dropped his hands down almost as if he were swinging a bat. The storm shrieked and flew towards the Boss. In very short order, it had frozen the entire right side.

"Now do the other sides," Awesome Dude shouted.

"Sure," Mr Snowman easily said. He trotted towards the rear of the Boss, and as he passed by Severance, a wall of frigid air seemed to float by. It made Severance shiver; it felt like the cold had latched onto his bones.

And then it was gone. But Severance suddenly had new problems to deal with, because K-792 was beaming a bright red targeting light into his face. A single rocket launched.

"For crying out loud," Severance muttered. He backpedaled rapidly, getting well clear of the Boss and others.

"Sev!" Jack Coyote shouted after him, sounding both angry and alarmed at the same time. "Get-!"

"I got it," Severance yelled back. He was going to die, no two ways about it. With everyone low on health, he wasn't going to risk damaging them further. Jack might have been able to help shield him, but they needed the tank where he was.

And so he ran. One second he was moving, the next he was in a comfortable little bubble of grey. He didn't even remember getting blown up. Which was quite nice, actually.

Would you like to activate Precaution?

If he could have moved or made a sound, he would have sighed heavily. He really didn't want to leave. But he had to. His team needed him. Morning Glory had gotten Valentin Revived, he could see that from the party list, but it would be a couple of minutes yet before she could Revive again. And now she was probably panicking because Severance was dead.

Yeah, he thought, and gave the Precaution buff a mental nudge. Let's get back in the fight.

He braced himself, but when he was dropped back into the charred ruins of his destroyed body, it nearly made him faint on the spot. It wasn't that it hurt, exactly—you needed an intact nervous system to feel anything—but it was more of the shock.

None of his senses worked. It was just a pile of nothing. He couldn't even tell if he was holding his war fans, either. But he had to try. Speech had also been lost, so he focused with all his strength, and thought, Mend.

Sparks filled his vision, and he might have felt a tingle in his hands. Right. Sky Dance. He focused really hard on Earth Dance, and finally felt something shift within. Did that do it?

Heat blossomed over him, like someone had just wrapped a blanket around him. It shifted his health bar to the right a small bit, so it must have been Morning Glory trying to heal him. Well, he wouldn't let her do all the work. Mend.

Flesh rippled across his face and tightened around his bones, before he was dipped in a barrel of acid. He couldn't stop the strangled cry from tearing free, even as he convulsed and fell forward. He could feel things growing back, muscles spasming, nerves stretching through liquid fire, skin blistering over raw tender flesh. His ears popped and sound assaulted him—sharp and loud and too much. And then his nose and mouth and airways blossomed with heat, raw and dry and each breath felt like breathing broken glass.

When he managed to open his eyes and see, it was to Jack Coyote standing over him. The tank had his shield lifted in upraised arm, sheltering both of them beneath its shadow. Overhead was Mr Softee's phoenix, hovering with slow, languid movements of its great, fiery wings. It exhaled plumes of orange light every few seconds, and each time it did so, the light floated down and wrapped around Severance, encouraging his wounds to heal.

How did-?

Wasn't Softee dead?

But then he noticed Jack's expression. The tank had a single furrow set deep in his brow, and his lips were pulled tight into a thin line. He didn't look happy, that was for sure.

Severance couldn't understand why. Jack wasn't the one experiencing what it was like to regrow body parts. He looked away from the tank, gritting his teeth. The war fans were still in his hands, clenched there like they'd grown from his fingers. "Mend."

That, with the Phoenix's breath, was enough to get him back into orange. Severance rose, fighting against nausea and vertigo. He felt like puking.

"Thanks, Mr Softee!" Morning Glory shouted from across the other side of the Boss. She'd seen Severance get back up.

"No prob!" The Evoker in question had taken her old position behind the Boss. He flashed her a thumbs up.

Severance frowned. He must have been down longer than he realized if she'd gotten the Evoker up already. He placed down a Radiant Dome, and forced his attention back to the fight.

Weirdly, Jack hadn't budged. He'd lowered his shield a little, at least, but he still glowered at Severance like he'd just witnessed him kick a small child.

What's his problem? Shouldn't the guy be, you know, tanking? Severance limped past Jack, ignoring him. It appeared Ironhide was back to main tanking, while Jack did... whatever he was doing. Valentin was also up and at them, and he'd successfully destroyed the second wheel.

K-297 wasn't doing too well now. One side was all but destroyed, and part of its hatch was busted open thanks to YellowThere's Return-A-Rocket service. Valentin had moved to the opposite side, along with Mr Snowman. They had settled into efficient teamwork: Mr Snowman would use targeted attacks to freeze small sections of metal, which Valentin would brutally destroy with powerful attacks. Awesome Dude flitted all over the place, slashing away at every icy spot he could reach.

Meanwhile, YellowThere had decided to try and take out the optical lens, so he'd actually climbed up onto the shuddering frame of K-297. He currently had his chain wrapped around the slender stalk, and was trying to either saw or yank the thing apart. "Yee-haw, baby!"

"Flutterstep." Severance directed the skill to bring him over to the damaged side of the Boss. Through one of the multiple holes, he saw a bunch of sparking wires. He didn't know what any of them did, but it was as good a target as any.

Rather than use a skill, he simply sliced through the wires in an unskilled attack. A trickle of hp flowed into him, thanks to Earth Dance. The Phoenix followed him, having designated him as the one who needed the most healing. Smart bird.

And as if that wasn't enough insult, Jack Coyote also followed. Severance pretended he wasn't aware of the tank. Instead, he focused entirely on what he was doing.

Eventually, Morning Glory was able to Revive the last fallen player, Valipn4ifw. At the same time, something screeched horribly and K-297 dropped to the ground. The third wheel had been destroyed. A cheer rose, weary but full of joy.

With its mobility destroyed and half of its rocket launch tubes ruined, they'd eliminated half the danger. It was now a race to the finish. But K-792 wasn't going to go out easily.

"Unacceptable." It let out a klaxon alarm, loud and high-pitched. "Severe damage received. Recovery deemed impossible. Self Destruct sequence initiated - all fleshbags must die."

The alarm kept on going, on and on. A high-pitched whine began to emanate from the Boss, coming from somewhere deep within its core. If that wasn't enough of a warning sign, what remained of its armored exterior began to grow hot to the touch. The remaining rocket launch tubes popped up ominously.

YellowThere gave up on trying to wreck the optical lens. Instead, he directed his attacks to the launch tubes, trying to take them out before they did whatever they were going to do. With every whip-crack of his chain forming a steady rhythm of sound, he began to sing again, slightly off key, but the energetic delivery made up for it.

"Alll night! Git, git, git to livin', feelin' alll right! Dancin' out the denim in 'em, oh my, Leeevi!"

It sounded like pure nonsense to Severance, but he just tuned the cowboy wannabe out. If the guy wanted to act like a lunatic, then good for him. He switched to Sky Dance, because it was clear that was a countdown of sorts going on, and he suspected either they'd kill the robot, or the robot would kill them.

Everyone poured all they had into their last attacks. The whine grew louder with every passing second, and K-792 took began to glow red as its internal temperature sky rocketed. It didn't even bother trying to attack them anymore. It was going for one last blast.

Valentin destroyed the fourth wheel. Mr Softee had given up punching, and now he clambered up onto K-792 to join YellowThere. The fact that his shoes were smoking from the heat didn't even seem to bother him. He went to the hatch, pivoted at the hip, and smashed a foot right into heated metal. It caved beneath his blow, but didn't break.

He made a face, then leaned over to peer at Valipn4ifw. "Gimme some ice, here!"

The cryomancer obliged, unleashing a long snake-like lash of frigid water. It splashed into the hatch and froze on contact.

Mr Softee sneered. "Perfect."

His next kick popped bolts and busted welded seam lines. A third sent the hatch and optical lens flying.

Below, Severance found a small box set upon the chassis. Thick metal-wrapped wires ran to and from it, and it looked important. So he stabbed into it with all his strength. He hacked and cut until some of the metal wires split apart.

+1 Strength

There was a flash of heat and wires shorted out. The robot tank's alarm warbled then stopped.

"Huh." So that's what that was for. Severance dove back in, cutting anything he could reach. There was a dull boom from the other side of K-792, and the whole Boss gave a terrific shudder.

"I... will... destroy...."

Static cut through the mechanical voice. It fell silent. The whine, the hissing, the whirr of internal gears was gone. K-792 had gone completely still and utterly quiet.

A little uncertain, Severance pulled back. Was the thing about to blow? He wondered if he should be running away.

He eyed the Boss. It looked like a crumpled heap of scrap metal at this point. Before his eyes, little stars of violet began to glimmer all over its surface. That only meant one thing.

"Yeah!" Morning Glory was the first to yell. She jumped up and down, pumping her fist into the air. "We did it, you guys!"

A second whoop came from Awesome Dude. The Shade grinned ear to ear and went for high-fives. He collected from both cryomancers and Morning Glory, then received an unblinking stare from Valentin who made no move to return the gesture.

Severance watched in vague interest as his friend tried to convince the knightglaive to do a high-five.

A glimmer of violet drew his attention to the remains of K-792. A field of violet stars sparkled all across it, and one by one, the stars began to lift. Then more began to join their brethren, until the entire sky was a cloud of purple.

He was aware of the others falling silent as they too, watched the last moments of K-792. All too soon, it was over. And sitting where K-792 had lain was a plain wooden chest. Their reward.

Mr Softee was the first to run over, followed by Morning Glory. Instead of joining them, Severance turned away and rubbed tiredly at his sweaty face. His health had been restored fully by now, but he still felt like his bones ached. Exhaustion threatened to drag him down.

"Whoa, look at all these crystals!" Mr Softee called out. "We're rich!"

"What, you think you get any?" YellowThere drawled. "You hardly did anything."

"You shut up! Your singing was as bad as the robot's insults!"

Above their arguing, Morning Glory's laughter rang as clear as her bells.

Then, Mr Snowman has to ask, "So, now that we know the fight, wanna do it again?"

There was a soft thump.

"Oww, what was that for?! I was just asking!"

Gradually, Severance became aware of someone standing beside him. He lowered his gaze and found it to be Jack Coyote. The tank watched him with sharp golden eyes.

"How much time do you have left?" Jack asked quietly.

The question almost made Severance laugh. I've got all the time in the world, he thought bitterly. Time limits no longer pertained to him. Aloud, he just said, "Enough."

Jack Coyote nodded once. Then he looked over to Mr Snowman. "Snow. Collect my and Severance's portion."

The cryomancer didn't even question the odd request. "You got it!"

Severance frowned. "What-"

"Come with me," Jack Coyote interrupted. He grabbed Severance's arm.

Jack Coyote has initiated a teleport. Do you wish to accept?

Severance considered saying no. But then he shrugged. He might as well humor the tank, since Jack had helped with the raid.

"All right."

They vanished from the platform.