AN: Well, it's here. It took me a while, but it's here. I'm gonna get the excuses out of the way: I had a lot of work to do, and I find it pretty difficult to write all of this action crap. Anyway, my workload's still pretty big, so don't expect the next chapter to get done too soon. As usual, if you see anything that doesn't look right, please tell me.

"…You're nervous, aren't you?" I ask Lee as he paces around with his hand over his mouth, possibly muttering something to himself.

"Who? Me? Nervous? No, why on earth would you think that?"

"Probably because you've been dashing around the camp for the past couple hours doing anything and everything to prepare for the battle tomorrow."

"Okay, so I'm a little bit nervous! But can you blame me? Tomorrow we're going to go up against Gangrel and all of his armed forces in the flesh, some of them possibly having undead flesh as opposed to the normal human flesh!"

"Uh… But… I thought that the entire point of getting that creepy book of yours that summons Risen was so that we wouldn't have to worry about fighting the warriors with undead flesh. When we got it, you seemed so certain that we could win this war with it."

"That was a month ago, Lucas! That was before I learned the limit of what Tharja can accomplish with that tome! Sure, she can summon Risen whenever she wants, but that's it! She can't even control what the Risen do! I mean, what if they just go ahead and do whatever the Plegians want them to do instead what we need them to do?! A-and besides! Plegia has dozens upon dozens of dark mages who can summon Risen, while we have a grand total of one! One!"

"…You know, I think it's great that we have such a confident and inspiring tactician leading us into battle tomorrow."

Lee stops his pacing, and turns to me to shout, "I'm being serious here!"

"Okay, sorry. But, you know, you probably don't have anything to worry about when it comes to Risen attacks; Gangrel doesn't summon any Risen to attack us from behind or anything in the game. Not to quote the game's villain or anything, but it's written."

Lee groans. "You do realize that the point of him saying that was to prove that nothing is written, right?!"

"Yes, but this is literally written, Lee! As video game script! It's written into the plotline of the freaking video game!"

"We've changed what was supposedly 'written' before, Lucas! Or have you forgotten that entire ordeal with Emmeryn?!"

"What, you mean that day I watched the leader of Ylisse and symbol of peace throughout the land lying in the sand while clutching a poisoned arrow that had found its happy little way into her as she screamed and begged for me to put an end to her life just before I put my sword inside her?! No, it had completely slipped my mind!"

Lee purses his lips, and goes silent.

"…Look, all I'm saying is that, at this point, I don't think that we can assume that we really know everything that's going to happen here. I mean, we do know the really big events, but for all we know, there could be a bunch of seemingly minor events that could have catastrophic effects!"

"I really think that you're exaggerating, here!"

"Oh, am I?! What about that poison, Lucas?! There was nothing like that in the game! If things as bad as that can appear out of nowhere, then why can't something even worse?!"

This time, I shut up. It's been a month since Miriel and Maribelle started examining the poison on the knife that Lee brought back from that Plegian base. Since then, they've managed to make numerous attempts at antidotes to the poison, but they haven't had any success; many soldiers have died in our medical tent screaming while Miriel and Maribelle forced a strange fluid down their throat. It hasn't been very pleasant to have to watch.

"…Sorry, I just…" Lee says, running his hands through his messy hair. "I'm seriously stressed out here, okay? I may have Robin to help me with the battle plan, but that doesn't change the fact that people's lives are at stake, here."

"Speaking of steak…"

Lee raises an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Hm? Oh, sorry, my mind wandered off there. I'm… really hungry. Anyway, it's fine, just… Don't have a mental breakdown, all right?" I say, standing up, moving to leave. "Oh, and don't tire yourself out. Don't think I don't know about you using Olivia's dancing so you could rush around camp and over-prepare for everything."

"Heh… You know about that?"

"Are you seriously asking that? How could I not? Everybody was a little bit freaked out about the absurdly helpful blur. Honestly, you put Cordelia's randomly helpful acts to shame. I actually think she was a little bit disappointed when she saw that pretty much everything else was already done. You put her out of a job there, buddy."

Lee lets out a laugh, and grins awkwardly. "Well, I didn't mean to do that… I just need to go do… one more thing…"

I frown. "…You're about to collapse, aren't you?"

Lee sighs loudly. "I think so," he says before collapsing on the ground.

I shake my head, and walk over to my friend.

That was sudden.

"You still with me?"

"…My head…"

"I'll take that as a yes. Damn. Olivia's dances sure have some serious repercussions…"

"Help me up… I need to go… check on the weapons… and see if they… have enough… uses…"

"…Look, not that I have any idea about how this 'preparing for battle' thing works, but shouldn't that have been one of the first things you did?"

"Give me… a break… When I go… hyper with Olivia's dancing, my… mind is a… blur… Can't… think straight…"

"But if you needed to do that, then why'd you stop doing all of… that, and just start talking over here?"

Lee glares at me. "Because… you… tripped me!"

I laugh. "Oh yeah… That was funny – especially since you were pretty much a blur. I was just standing there for five minutes with my foot sticking out, but boy was it worth it!"

"It… doesn't matter… I need… to check… the weapons… for uses…"

"Okay, how do you do that, anyway? For as long as I've been in this world, I have not figured out how people are able to tell that their weapon is going to break when they always look perfectly fine."

"It takes… intense… concentration. I'll show you some… time."

"Nah, it's fine. Intense concentration isn't my thing. 'Sides, if my weapon ever breaks, I can just use magic."

"You should… still learn it. Could be… useful."

"Eh, maybe."

"…You're not going to… help me up, are you?"

"Nah. If I did, you'd just go and work yourself to death again. Besides, if you can't even pick yourself up, then why should I trust you near our weapons? Nope, I'm going to leave you here to rest."

"Rest…? Here…? I'm lying on the… freaking ground!"

"You need to be able to see yourself. You look so tired that I bet you could fall asleep if I set you on fire."

"That would… kill me!"

"Well, that's… kind of like falling asleep, isn't it?"

"Why must you… do this to me…?"

"You did this to yourself. You made your bed, now lie in it. Well, in this case, whether you made it or not, I guess you're not really going to be lying in your bed… or any bed, for that matter. Anyway, the point is that you brought this upon yourself. So, are you going to rest, or do I have to tell you a bedtime story?"

"Why don't… I tell you the story of… the time this guy… tried to get his work… done, and his-"

"Look, if it's going to take this long just to describe the story, then I'll be damned if I'm going to stick around and listen to you tell the real thing. I'm out of here. I'll wake you when dinner's ready," I say, walking out of the room.

"What if… somebody comes and… steps on me?" Lee gasps at my back.

I reluctantly return to him and prop him up against a wall.

"There. Better?"

"Pillow?"

"No. Now shut up and go to sleep or I'll go set Nowi on you."

Lee's eyes widen suddenly. "You… wouldn't dare…"

"Try me."

"…I think I hate you."

"Yeah, I have that effect on people after a little while. Or a long while. Actually, it always seems to take varying amounts of time for different people…" I shake my head, putting a stop to this absurd train of thought. "Anyway, go. Close your eyes. Just stay there. Sleep. And for the love of gods, stop stressing out so much over this battle! We kind of need you to be mentally healthy so you can lead us to victory! Or, maybe Robin could do that on his own… Or maybe he couldn't. If you're really that worried about winning this, then maybe we shouldn't risk that."

"I… still need to…"

"What, you're still worried about that weapons thing? Look, I'll get somebody else to do it. Now would you please just shut down your everything and go comatose for a little while?"

"…I still hate you for… making me sleep on this… uncomfortable piece of…"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. See you later."

After a couple of minutes spent looking for her, I find Cordelia training with Lon'qu. With Lon'qu standing several meters away from the woman, of course. They're both using swords, which only brings up multiple questions about the way things work in this world.

Cordelia's a Pegasus Knight, right? So she can only use lances?

Well, evidently, that last bit isn't true…

But… But… Class separation! That whole thing about classes being separated! Does that mean that the only thing differs between classes is just the clothes they wear and the skills they learn?

Wait… So… If I used a Second Seal, then there's a chance I'd be able to become an assassin that can blast fireballs and magical bombs everywhere?

…Freakin' awesome.

Or, you know, maybe people from certain classes can't wield certain weapons that effectively when in the heat of battle?

Shut up, pessimistic voice! You're such a killjoy! Besides, if that were the case, then what use would Cordelia have for training with swords?

Because she's a huge perfectionist who wants to be good at everything, even if it isn't even remotely useful in anything?

Uh… Maybe, but… Nah.

…For the plotline, and the sake of making the support conversations slightly sensible!

That… doesn't really make sense.

And neither does much else in this messed up world. Just… go with it. Maybe somebody will go out of their way to explain this crap to you…

"Do you need something, Lucas?"

I pull out of my trance, and see Cordelia standing in front of me, looking at me oddly.

"Hm? Oh, right. Lee's willingly taking a rest, but he said something about needing to check to see if the weapons, so-"

"I'm on it," I hear Cordelia say before rushing away. Her sword falls on the ground.

"…Huh. She really enjoys helping around the camp…" I mutter to nobody in particular.

"Quite," Lon'qu says, a familiar hint of irritation evident in his voice. "So much so that she seems distracted if there's something for her to do. In fact, I was counting on her actually concentrating during this practice session after Lee organized everything."

I turn to the myrmidon. "Do you always talk like this to everybody, or am I a special case?" No answer. I sigh. "Look, sorry. But how was I supposed to know that you needed that to help you train with Cordelia?" I blink. "Wait, why are you training with Cordelia? You're terrified of women! And I can't imagine that women swinging swords are any less scary!"

Lon'qu grimaces. "She saved my life in battle, so I owe her a debt; she suggested this method."

"Ah. And how's that working out?"

"Well, she's… progressing, however slowly she can what with my lousy teaching. I, on the other hand, am not."

"You?" I ask. "What are you supposed to be progressing with – oh. You thought this would help you get rid of your gynophobia?"

"Well, Maribelle suggested slowly desensitizing to the act of getting near women. So, I assumed I could merely try and kill two birds with one stone. Evidently, it isn't going too well."

"Huh. Well… good luck with that, I guess." I turn to exit, but a voice stops me.

"Hold it."

I turn around and see Lon'qu pointing a sword at me.

"Normally at this point in a conversation, we've had a brawl of some sort."

"So… you're challenging me?"

"So it appears."

"Uh… Thanks, but I'll pass. We have a big battle tomorrow – I'd sooner not go into it bruised and battered."

"Maribelle can heal you up just fine – is that not what you did the first time we fought?"

"Well, yes, but I was still aching for quite a bit after that!"

"So you're chickening out?"

"So it appears. Besides, the first time I asked you to do this, you told me to go away. You didn't even agree until I gave you a reason to want to beat the crap out of me. Why are you so keen on fighting now?"

"…"

"…You enjoy beating the crap out of me, don't you?"

Lon'qu smirks. "You could say that."

"…"

"…So. Are we doing this?"

I sigh, and pick up the sword that Cordelia dropped. "Fine. Whatever. Let's just get this over with."

"Thanks again for the healing," I mutter as Maribelle holds a glowing staff over my bruises.

She smirks. "If you keep getting chopped like this with real swords, it's going to take more than simple healing staves to keep you in one piece."

"Yeah… I know… That's kind of the main function of real swords… Wait, are you telling me that if I lose an arm, then there's a way to reattach it, or something?"

Maribelle frowns. "Of course not."

I hunch over a little bit in disappointment. "Bummer…"

"However, we can make you grow it back."

I jerk up suddenly. "Seriously?!"

She smirks, clearly enjoying herself. "Are you really that gullible?"

I hunch over, once more.

"Oh, don't look so sad. Worry not; if the battle tomorrow goes as well as your duel with Lon'qu, then perhaps we'll be able to find out for certain whether we can!"

I frown at her. "Yikes, what happened to you? Now you're making jokes about people losing limbs and the like… That's pretty morbid."

Maribelle's smile fades. "Hm, you're right… I suppose I've spent too much time watching people bleed to death…"

That's a depressing thought… "Lovely talk, we're having here, really."

I scan the healing tent and take a good look at a knife coated in poison that's seated on a table. A large elixir is standing next to it. "How are you going and Miriel doing with that antidote?"

Maribelle turns to where I'm looking. "Well, we have made plenty of other experimental elixirs, but… Well, I see no reason as to why they would yield better results than our other attempts… Still, we're going to examine the poison some more. We'll probably need something to combat it for tomorrow." She pulls the staff away. "There. Feeling better?"

I move around a little bit, warming up my joints. "Much better, yes." I get up. "Thanks for that. And, uh… I've been meaning to ask: should we really be wasting our healing staves on things as trivial as bruises and small aches?"

Maribelle shrugs. "It's no bother, really; it doesn't take much energy to heal small things like this. Besides, we have plenty of staves to spare," she says, jerking her thumb behind her. A huge pile of staves is stacked there.

How did I not see that sooner?

"Oh. So, we're pretty prepared for any injuries, then."

"Quite."

"Good to know... Are you sure that you can't make an arm grow back?"

"Yes. So try not to lose one tomorrow."

"I'll try, but I'm not making any promises."

Maribelle sighs. "I suppose that's why I'm here..."

"So you can make arms grow back!"

"For the last time, no!"

The next day, we march through this wasteland towards the Mad King and his army. I rub my eyes, and yawn.

Whose brilliant idea was it to have this battle this early in the frickin' morning? Why couldn't we just hold put it off until I've at least had my lunch?

I sigh, and begin another yawn mid-sigh. I never was a morning person. Though, if I recall correctly, I did wake up pretty quickly upon entering this world. But that was probably because of all of those slaps – I imagine that enough of those would wake anyone up.

Hmm… This could prove useful…

"Hey, Raimi?" I say, turning to the knight next to me.

She turns to me. "Yeah? What is it?"

"Could you slap me? Right in the face?"

"…Are you feeling all right?"

"Hm? Oh, I'm fine. I just really need a good slap to the face to wake me up for this battle."

The knight grins. "Sure. Why not? I didn't really get to appreciate that last time I slapped you."

I snort. "You call that a slap? I hate to break it to you, but that wasn't really a slapping motion. I'd say that you punched me."

"Well excuse me for getting surprised! I thought you were dead, and then you just got up and brushed yourself up like nothing happened!"

"…So you punched me," I deadpan. "…Right in the face."

Raimi huffs. "You know what? I think I'm going to go ahead and not slap you."

I shrug. "Fine. No skin off my nose. There are plenty of people here who'd be happy to slap me." I turn to the front of the line, and shout, "Hey, Sully!"

"What?!" the cavalier shouts back at me.

"Get your horse over here and slap me!"

"Screw you!"

I pout and turn to Raimi, who is now smirking triumphantly.

"Shut up," I say before I let out another yawn.

"I didn't say anything."

"You just did right now. Shut up."

"Hey! Ol' Teach'll be more than welcome to give you a taste of his trusty ol' slapper!" Vaike bellows, strutting over to us. I take note that he has not forgotten his axe.

"Um… No thanks," I say to him. "I think I'd rather have somebody else… slap me."

"Ha! Are you just frightened at the awesome muscles of Teach?!"

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but yes. I am, frankly, terrified of your giant muscles, Vaike. I'd much rather be slapped by somebody much less… muscle-y."

"You mean muscular?" Raimi says.

"Like I said earlier: shut up."

"Ha!" Vaike bellows. "It's no problem-o! Teach needs to save his massive strength for our upcoming battle, anyway! Gods know everybody'll be needing it!"

The muscular idiot then walks away.

"…You know, I don't think I need a slap, anymore," I say.

"Really?" Raimi asks.

"Yeah."

"Good," the knight says just before she slaps me, knocking me out of the marching line.

I don't say or do anything. I just lie in the sand, staring at the sky, face stinging.

"Heh. That was fun…" Raimi says. "…Are you going to get up?"

"…Do you think that I could maybe skip this war? Say that I was viciously attacked out of the blue by a barbaric knight and couldn't get up again to fight?"

"I'm a witness that that's anything but true. So no."

"Damn it."

"So, did you wake up, yet?"

"If I say no, do I have to get up?"

"Yes."

"Fine, I'm up," I say, picking myself up. I rub the spot where I got slapped. "Yeesh, did you need to do that so suddenly? And right when I decided that I didn't need a slap?"

"Hey, there's no fun in doing it if you want me to. That's kind of the point of slapping you."

"Whatever. Let's just get back to marching…"

After a couple of seconds, the march comes to a halt. The group of us scramble around, changing from the weird marching line, and forming a more disorganized crowd of some sort. Raimi and I awkwardly move around the crowd, simply finding a place to stand so we can see what's going on. Eventually, Lee's voice speaks up.

"All right, everyone! Before us lies Gangrel's army! I'm not going to lie – some of us may not get out of this alive. However, it seems that the odds are more in our favour than we had originally hoped – many of Plegia's soldiers have dropped their weapons, refusing to take anymore part in this bloodshed. Hell, their army has all but collapsed, at this point. Still, a few remain to oppose us, the Mad King himself included. I'm not big on speeches or anything, so I'll just say this: let's wipe 'em out!"

"Nice speech there, buddy," I say as our army stands before Gangrel's.

"You mean it?" Lee asks, turning to me with a frowning face. "Or do I detect a hint of sarcasm?"

I shrug. "Maybe a little. I mean, I guess it was a little cheesy, but what pre-battle speech isn't?"

"I never was good at public speaking…" Lee mutters.

"Really? It didn't show," I say. "Oh yeah, what happened with you at dinner last night? I went to find you, but you were gone."

"Lissa found me and actually decided to help me with her trusty staff. So, I went and got dinner early and then double-checked the preparations for this battle."

"Seriously? Are you still that worried about this battle?!"

"Lucas! Take on good look at that army right there! Can you seriously tell me that you're not worried right now?!"

"…Okay, fine. Now that I'm here, this is actually pretty terrifying."

Lee rolls his eyes. "Good. So all of that killing hasn't completely turned you into some mindless psycho."

"Not yet, anyway."

"…"

"…I don't remember the conversation between Chrom and Gangrel being this long," I whisper as we watch the two leaders shout at each other.

"Like I said, quite a few things appear to have changed from the video game. We… might be here a little while."

"…So how was it sleeping on the ground?"

"To be honest? It was actually surprisingly comfy. You should try it some time."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"…You didn't seriously expect me to try that, did you?"

Lee shrugs. "It was worth a shot."

"Such a clever young tongue you have, little prince…" we hear Gangrel speak. "I'll be sure to place it on my mantle where your sister's corpse was to be put!"

"I guess that's our cue…" I mutter.

"Wind shields up!" Lee and Robin shout together.

Robin, Lee, Ricken, Miriel, Tharja, and I, as well as a few generic Plegian mages, step forward, and summon multiple Rexcalibur shields. Elwind shields were pretty good, but they were pretty much a single blade of wind spinning really, really, really quickly. Even though we have to use both hands to summon it, Rexcalibur is probably at least ten times stronger, so when we discovered a way to use it as a shield, it felt like a godsend!

The group of us mages cover the front of our little army while multiple knights behind us hoist their shields above the heads of our comrades. Multiple arrows fly into our vortexes and fly away, and I think I hear some clinking and clanking from behind us. Or maybe not; it's really hard to hear anything over the sound of multiple Rexcaliburs. Either way, I don't hear any painful screams of people dying.

I then think I hear the sound of Plegians screaming and rushing at us. I also think I see them doing so, but I can't really tell how far away they are; it's also pretty hard to see through these twisters of magic wind.

"Mages incoming! Wind shields disperse!" Lee shouts.

Well, I heard that, at least.

All of us blast our Rexcaliburs at the Plegians rushing at us. The group of us then disperse, and the battlefield turns chaotic. I whip out my axe, and rush at a pair of mages to the west. They each summon a pair of Elthunders at me.

Gods damn it…

I brace myself for the attacks, and take the hits.

Thank the gods for my resistance…

I leap and swing my axe at the mages, and off come their heads.

Yikes… Is this really what Lee meant by 'a few'? There must be around… I don't even want to try to count how many Plegians there are here…

Stupid 'Hell of a Lot More Enemies' rule…

…Though, I suppose that I should be grateful that none of them seem to have noticed me, yet. Am I really that unnoticeable?

…This must be how Kellam feels.

The sound of wings beating to my right catches my attention. A simple Rexcalibur takes care of that one wyvern rider.

I whip up a small Elwind shield in my left hand, just in case of any stray arrows, despite the tantamount of stamina it requires to hold up.

I immediately hear an arrow fly right by my ear.

That was lucky…

I quickly turn to where the arrow came from, and spot a trio of archers. I position my shield between myself and them while putting my axe away. In my right hand, I charge up a bomb, and blast it at them.

I completely miss. Evidently, my aim needs some serious work.

Damn it… Need to get closer…

Carefully keeping my shield in the archers' direction, I sprint at the enemy, charging up yet another bomb. When it's finished, I try and blast it again. This time, I actually manage to take out an archer. However, the other two archers manage to dive out of the explosion's range, and point their bows at me from either side of me. I immediately summon a second Elwind shield in my right hand, just before an arrow can impale me.

Hiding behind my magic shields, I quickly throw a fire spell into the mix. The Elwind vortexes get ignited, and I blast them both at the archers.

Lucas used Fire Spin!

I take a good look at what remains of the two archers.

…It's super effective.

I hear a screaming barbarian sprinting at me, axe in the air. Swords beat axes. He goes down quickly.

A mercenary leaps at me. Apparently, he doesn't manoeuvre well in the air, and lands nowhere near me. I put him out of his embarrassment.

Eventually, I break into some sort of mindless pattern of a killing spree. One by one, the Plegians fall. Of course, I do take time to make sure I'm not attacking my own allies – this isn't like the game where the enemies are all red, and the good guys are all blue.

"The hell have you been?" Lee shouts as I slice open a nearby Plegian fighter.

"Slowly killing people. What do you think I've been doing in the middle of this bloodbath?" I say, swinging my sword at a myrmidon.

"Well, I just figured that you'd stick with the crowd since you should know by now that pairing up with people gives you stat boosts!"

"Stat boosts? What are you guys talking about?" the Falchion-wielding lord shouts at us.

"Nothing!" Lee says quickly.

Chrom gives Lee an odd look, but seems to forget about his off comment before slicing another myrmidon in half.

"So Lee, you see any Risen here?" I ask, cutting open a mage.

He sighs. "No…"

Chrom laughs. "Didn't I tell you that you didn't have anything to worry about?"

I smirk. "You were telling him that, too, huh?" I go back to cutting open Plegians.

"Where," Chrom gasps while wildly swinging his sword everywhere, "do you think Gangrel is?"

"Try and listen for any crazed cackling!" I suggest. "That's usually the way to find a mad king! Or maybe some insane form of taunting!" I cut a mercenary, the last of that small group of Plegians.

"Come, princeling! I've sharpened my sword just for you!" Gangrel screams at Chrom.

"Ya see? Just like that!" I say, pointing my thumb at Gangrel and the two heroes surrounding him.

Chrom, however, ignores me, and simply turns toward the mad king, holding Falchion in one hand. "My sister wished for our people to know peace, Gangrel. But as long as you draw breath, it can never come." He places both hands on his sword and points it at Gangrel. "For Ylisse!"

Gangrel cackles. "Save the blue-haired lordling for me! You two take care of those two stragglers over there!" he says to his two heroes.

The two heroes jump at me and Lee. I block the sword from the hero that targets me, and shove him away, but he runs back at me. I sidestep his attack, and try to strike him in the back, but he rolls away. I use this time to try and charge a bomb, but he comes rushing at me again. Knowing perfectly well that I can't block this guy's attack while holding my sword with only one hand, I dodge his attack once more, and prepare to blast my readied bomb at him when a sword gets put through him.

The hero drops dead, revealing Gaius holding a bloody sword.

"That was tasty."

I frown. "I'll be sure to ask about what, exactly, was so tasty later, but right now we need to go help Chrom and L-"

"Yeah, let's go help Chrom!" Lee shouts, running towards Chrom and Gangrel.

"Oh. He's fine," I mutter to myself before running after Lee and Gaius.

At this point, plenty of other Plegians have appeared to take notice of us, and proceed to run at us.

While trying to keep an eye on Chrom and his fight with Gangrel, I slash open whatever Plegians try and take a swing at me.

I only get bits and pieces of the duel between Chrom and Gangrel; I see Chrom swing Falchion at the king, later see him dodging the Levin Sword's magic lightning, and later see Chrom swing Falchion at the king once more. After killing enough Plegians for them to stop bugging me, I begin to charge up a bomb.

"Chrom!" I shout. The lord turns to me. "Hit the ground!" He does as I say, and I blast the ball of energy at Gangrel.

Bullseye!

"Ha! We win! Right?!" I cheer, throwing my fists up into the air.

I let my arms drop down when I see the mad king standing on his two feet, drinking an elixir.

"…What?!" I cry, mouth agape. "B-but I… The bomb… It went… And then… Boom!"

Lee shrugs. "I guess he has higher resistance than most of the people you've been fighting."

"But… It's a freaking explosion!"

Lee pats me on the back. "I guess you're not as over-powered as you thought." He then runs at Gangrel, hands aflame.

I cross my arms and pout. "I'm still… pretty over-powered…" I mutter to myself.

I walk over to Gaius, Lee, and Chrom, who are surrounding the Mad King's front.

"Tch… Four against one?!" he cries. "Oh, you Ylisseans do not play fair!"

"Give it up, Gangrel!" Chrom shouts. "You cannot win! Drop your weapon!"

"Listen, buddy, I'd do as he says," Gaius says, smirking. "The guy can be pretty forgiving; do as he says, and you might just get out of this alive. You know, maybe."

Gangrel curses. "Where's that damned Aversa when you need her…?"

"Are you going to give up or not?" Chrom shouts.

"Call me mad, but no, I don't think I'll be letting you do away with me just yet," Gangrel says. His left hand reaches for something in his pocket.

"So be it," Chrom says before charging at Gangrel.

"Chrom!" Lee cries as he blasts our leader with wind just before Gangrel's poisoned throwing knife can stab him. Chrom's landing is less than graceful, but he seems to understand the situation.

"Let's see here…" Gangrel says, holding four poisoned daggers in his left hand, wielding his Levin Sword in his right. "I've got four knives right here in my hand. That makes one for each of you!"

Lee fires a ball of fire at Gangrel, but the king quickly thrusts his Levin Sword in the air, causing lightning to strike the ball and make it disperse.

"Of course, even if I use all four of these little ones here, I do still have a few more on me to spare… Bwa ha! This is going to be SO much fun!"

By now, Chrom is back on his feet. He looks at Lee, evidently looking for a plan from the tactician.

Lee furrows his brow, and summons two fireballs in either hand. He then looks at me. I instinctively do the same as him, and then see Gaius pulling a couple of daggers out of his pocket.

"Oh please…" Gangrel mutters.

Lee and I launch our fireballs at him while Gaius throws his daggers. Gangrel simultaneously falls backward, summons his Levin Sword's magic to strike Gaius, and throws one of his throwing knives at me.

With a split second to think, I immediately summon a tiny bit of wind magic while falling to my right in an attempt to dodge the knife. It just misses me.

I look up to find that Gaius appears to be a little shaken after getting hit with that lightning. Gangrel nimbly picks himself up, holding his three remaining daggers menacingly.

"You'll have to do better than that!" Gangrel laughs. "Don't tell me that the four of you can't take out one little Trickster!"

Gangrel then looks down at his feet, and immediately hurls himself to the ground, narrowly avoiding Lee's Rexcalibur trap.

"Damn it…" Lee curses.

I quickly begin to try and summon another Rexcalibur near Gangrel before he can get up on his feet, but Gangrel throws another knife at Chrom. I immediately summon the Rexcalibur in the knife's path, knocking it out of the air.

"Just for you!" I hear Gaius shout as he leaps at Gangrel.

Gangrel just manages to roll out of the way before Gaius can impale him.

"Gaius!" Lee shouts, blasting the thief with wind before Gangrel's third knife can take him out.

"We can't keep this up forever, Lee!" I shout.

Still lying on the ground, Gaius throws some more daggers at Gangrel, who effortlessly dodges them. Before the king can try and throw his poisoned knife, I throw some fire at him. He dodges this as well.

Gaius quickly gets up, and jumps away from Gangrel, putting good distance between them.

"Lucas! Let's just rush him!" Lee shouts to me, holding an Elwind shield in his left hand, sword in the other.

I nod, and summon a shield as well, while pulling out my sword. We both run at the Mad King.

"Clinging to each other won't save you maggots when the boot falls!" Gangrel shouts.

I feel lightning strike me, causing me to stumble a little bit. Still, I must have pretty high resistance or something, because I manage to continue charging at the king. I then hear lightning strike to the left of me, and I hear Lee curse. I don't have time to look and see how he's doing, and begin to run faster.

When I close the gap between me and Gangrel, I blast my Elwind at him before he can throw his knife at me. He braces himself for the spell, and the wind flies off of him. I swing my sword at him, and he blocks with his Levin Sword. I strike a couple more times, and each time he blocks. Filled with adrenaline, I utter the lightning spell, and electrify the sword for one big swing. I knock the Levin Sword out of Gangrel's hand, and immediately shove my sword through his chest.

Gangrel looks down at the sword. I remove it from his chest, and he lets out a sharp gasp. He drops to his knees and turns to Chrom, who is a fair distance away from him. "F-fool of… a prince… Your people care not for you… You are… alone… As every man lives and dies: …alone…"

"Sorry pal, but I don't think he heard you," I say, dropping my sword on him, putting him out of his misery.

I take my sword out from him once more, and let out a sigh of relief. The sound of the massive slaughter seems to have died down. The battle must be over, now.

Looks like we won.

That was lucky… All he had to do was throw that last knife at me, and I would've been done for.

My eyes move to Gangrel's left hand, where he was holding his knives. It's empty. Frowning, I scan the area, looking for the knife. My stop my search when I see Lee on the ground, hands covering his stomach.

Oh fuck no.

Dropping my sword on the ground, I rush over to Lee.

"Lee?!"

He looks up at me. He laughs hollowly. I look down at his torso, and see the knife jutting out of it.

"Oh shit," I curse, immediately hoisting Lee up and putting his arm around me, careful not to touch his poisoned wound.

"It'll be all right, man," I mutter to Lee, beginning to walk him off of the battlefield. "We're gonna just get you that elixir for the poison, and then you'll-"

I'm cut off by Lee letting out a painful scream.

"The hell's going on?!" Gaius shouts. "Oh crap…" he mutters when he sees what happened to Lee.

"Oh gods…" I hear Chrom mutter.

"Go get Maribelle!" I shout. "Tell her to get the elixir for this!"

"R-right!" Gaius says, running away, pulling Chrom after him.

Lee screams in pain again.

Gods fucking damn it…

"Lucas…" Lee mutters before screaming.

"Should you be talking in your condition?"

"He… hit me with… his lightning… and I dropped my… shield… And then… the knife…"

"Look… I really don't think that how you got poisoned matters. Just try and save your breath until we get that elixir."

Lee hisses sharply, and lets out another scream. "It's… funny. I didn't… have us charge at… Gangrel like that because… I was afraid that… would happen."

"If that's what you consider funny, then you have a pretty morbid sense of humour. And, you know, this isn't exactly the best time to be making really morbid jokes; we haven't recruited Henry yet. Now, seriously, save your breath for gods' sakes."

The sight of a giant rabbit sprinting towards me catches my attention.

"Chrom told me of what happened!" Panne speaks before turning into her human-like form. She holds a small vial. "The healing woman-spawn told me to give this to him," she says, taking off the lid and forcing the vial's fluid down Lee's throat.

"Better?" I ask him.

He screams, and shakes his head.

"Right!" Panne says, transforming into her taguel form. "Get on, quick!"

"Uh… What? Climb onto you in your taguel form?"

"Do you not wish to save your man-spawn friend?"

"R-right!"

I carefully climb onto the back of the giant rabbit, cautiously propping Lee in front of me. Panne takes off, and I struggle to hold on to both her and Lee.

Huh… Riding a giant killer rabbit off of a battlefield after killing a mad tyrant… I really wish the circumstances weren't so dire so I could actually appreciate how awesome this should be…

I notice that Panne's gigantic ears twitch as Lee continues to scream in pain.

"Is his screaming bothering you?" I ask.

"It is mildly agitating… But I am aware that it cannot be helped. I will simply have to put up with it."

Lee begins to hyperventilate before screaming another time.

"It… hurts…"

Hang in there, Lee…

Our camp finally comes back into view. When Panne stops in front of the medical tent, I immediately hop off, carrying Lee, and quickly enter the tent. Maribelle, who appears to be experimenting with some sort of potion, turns to me for a second, and then returns to her potion.

"Lay him on the bed there," she says hurriedly, pulling out a vial.

I do as she says, and she forces Lee to drink the potion. He gulps it down, but then continues to scream in agony.

"I-is there a chance that it could just take a long time to come into effect?" I ask.

"End it… now… Please!"

"We don't have time to find out!" Maribelle says, moving to the table with her potions. She picks up a few tiny vials before tossing them aside.

"C-can I do anything to help?!" I say.

"No! Just let me try and find this stupid…" Maribelle trails off.

I hear Lee let out an incredibly high-pitched scream.

"Hang in there, Lee!" I say, turning to him. "We're gonna-"

I'm cut off when I see Lee holding Gangrel's knife in his hand.

I practically leap at him. "Lee, no!"

But I'm too late.

I watch my best friend stab himself in the heart.