What might have been a minor detail soon became serious business after one of the best female players dropped out of her guild to join the one her boyfriend was in.

It wasn't against the rules to date people in other guilds, but Asuna was sick and tired of Nitroburst's crappy attitude and the fact Heathcliff insisted that she pair up with him so often. If she had to hear one more bitchy whine about Galahad being so popular, strong and influential, she was going to kill that asshole herself!

It was only after she joined Imladris that she discovered the source of the blond's hatred of Galahad.

"In the real world we're classmates and he has a really impressive quirk. He's so used to having everyone praise him while belittling me that when the situation was forcibly reversed he couldn't handle it at all. Especially since he went from top dog to a player most people think is a joke," said Galahad.

"You're kidding," deadpanned Asuna.

"Our moms are friends," shrugged Galahad. "And his quirk allows him to produce nitroglycerin from his sweat, so the teachers and adults around us made him out to be a big deal who was a shoe-in if he went the pro-hero path. He doesn't even care about helping people, he's only in it for the money and the glory."

"Seriously?" said Asuna in disgust. Then again her own parents were major contributors to Endeavor, and that guy was a complete asshole.

She was so caught up in learning why Nitroburst was a jerk that she never thought to ask Galahad what his quirk was.

A month later...

It was big news around Aincrad. So much so that everyone stopped doing quests just so they could watch the epic duel between the two biggest guilds in the game.

With the loss of Asuna, the Knights of the Blood Oath were scrambling to make up for her skill level. The problem was that Asuna was one of their best heavy hitters and without her there, the others were barely able to complete quests that used to be easy.

She was still part of the Assault team, but the guild was suffering big time.

So you could imagine Galahad's surprise when Heathcliff made an offer to merge their two guilds to make up for the loss.

"Let me get this straight. You want me to merge my guild into yours because you want Asuna back. Despite the fact it's well known there is major bad history between me and Nitroburst," said Galahad flatly.

"I'm sure it's a minor misunderstanding you can work out," said Heathcliff. However his expression said he didn't give a damn what their issue was, he just wanted Asuna and if possible Kirito as well.

"Yeah, no. That's not going to happen."

"What about if I duel you over the matter?" said Heathcliff seriously.

Galahad looked at him incredulous.

"You want to duel me over the fact Asuna chose to be with Kirito more often. Is this about that silly popularity poll they had?"

Imladris came ahead of the Knights, and little wonder. It hadn't helped that since Asuna had left, Nitroburst was their best member and he was a complete bastard to the other players.

Heathcliff's expression didn't change, but it was clear that the poll hadn't helped in the least.

"Let's say that we have this duel. What do I get if I win?"

"First crack at the new floor's quests and the agreement that the subject is never brought up again," said Heathcliff.

"Deal," said Galahad.

Everyone and their grandmother showed up for the duel. It was rare to see Galahad or Heathcliff going at it for real, as they usually kept their respective guilds running unless a big boss raid was due.

Yui, Eri, Kirito and Asuna had front seats to the show, though only Yui was aware of what Galahad had planned.

Yui had revealed a secret buff that only certain creatures...or in the case of Yui and Eri...had. Specifically the buff that insured they would never die in the game, and that their HP never reached zero no matter what attack was used.

She had also revealed that the buff could be exposed when certain conditions were met...even in safe zones.

Galahad had always been deeply suspicious of Heathcliff's "Divine Shield". It was an overpowered ability that would have made it ridiculously easy for him to go after the bosses solo and beat the game in a matter of months, and yet Kayaba had never once gone after him for it.

He could hide behind his status as guild master all he wanted...Galahad had never found any other creature in the game who had that particular ability.

It was one thing to work your ass off to earn an ability like he had. It was another to be blatantly cheating in a game like this and not be called out on it by the bastard monitoring it for such hacks. Even Yui, who was an integral part of the game, had to be very, very careful in what she did when she was actively hacking the programming to avoid letting her creator know what she was doing.

Galahad was armed in his best gear, while Heathcliff wore his usual fair. It was clear he wasn't taking this duel seriously and wanted to get it over so he could reclaim Asuna.

"Last chance to back out," said Heathcliff.

Galahad rolled his eyes. He had a little surprise and if nothing else he wanted to make sure Heathcliff's reputation took a major hit.

As the two exchanged blows, Galahad kept close eye on Heathcliff's health bar.

The moment it was about to turn red, the damage stopped coming. It was the source of Heathcliff's infamous "Divine Shield" title.

That was when he struck. Unknown to Heathcliff, he had borrowed one of Yui's daggers and had coated it with the most lethal poison to be found in the game so far. It was infamous among the players as something to be avoided at all costs, because it automatically dropped a player into the red within five seconds or less depending on what their level was. It killed in ten unless you teleported fast enough to the nearest town with a crystal.

It was more dangerous than the boss levels, and was called the "Party Killer" because if the one who teleported was carrying anything vital...like health crystals for instance...then there was a strong chance it would kill everyone else in the party.

As a result, most players avoided any area that monster showed up in like the plague.

Galahad happened to get his hands on it at one point during a quest, and one of the rare few who had slain the beast before it could poison him. The vial he had was part of the loot and he had never told anyone he had it.

Without any hesitation...mostly because since they were in a safe zone this wouldn't actually kill him...Galahad drove the hidden dagger into Heathcliff's heart.

Heathcliff, so assured of his defense, never bothered to dodge properly.

And that's when Galahad saw it.

The light purple hexagon that he recognized from the time Yui had demonstrated her own defense. The one that read clear as day, "Immortal Object".

Despite being poisoned, Heathcliff's health never dipped below red. Even with the hit he had taken, it was still yellow.

There was no way Kayaba would allow something as overpowered as this to exist...not unless...

Galahad's expression turned furious, and he backed away like he was going to use his arrows.

In reality he was planning to broadcast this to everyone in the stadium. Yui saw his message and made very sure every player in the game heard her Daddy's words.

"You know there's something I've been wanting to say for a while now, but never actually thought I'd get the chance to do it in person."

"What's that?" said Heathcliff, amused.

"Fuck you Kayaba, and fuck the horse you rode in on. Do you have any idea how much it pissed me off when I realized I was trapped in a game full of assholes who think having a quirk gives them every right to use quirkless players as cannon fodder to save their own ass? Do you have any clue how many Player Killers I've had to deal with because you trapped us in this damn game?!"

Dead silence.

Heathcliff didn't show it outwardly, but he grew nervous.

"What are you talking about?"

Galahad glared at him.

"Really, you arrogant asshole? You honestly believed no one would see through that fake character you made to hide among the trapped players?"

People were starting to talk now, most were confused, but a few...namely Kirito and a few others who had high enough intelligence stats...were starting to cotton on to what Galahad had figured out.

"What are you insinuating?" demanded Heathcliff, hoping to deflect the obvious truth.

"Drop the act. There's no way Kayaba would dare allow a player with a defense capable of taking the Player Killer poison head-on without any damage whatsoever. Especially since this is a safe zone. Either you've been hacking your own player, or...and this is far more likely considering how strictly he's been monitoring the game so far...you're actually Kayaba pretending to be a player only to show up at the last level and act as the final boss just to be a dick about it."

Dead silence.

"How exactly would you even get a vial of Player Killer poison without being killed?" said Heathcliff.

"I had auto loot on and sniped the monster for a quest," deadpanned Galahad. "It was before people knew how dangerous that particular area was or how difficult it was to kill it."

Considering this was the Elven King Galahad, and auto loot did work within a certain area limit, everyone believed him.

"You seriously used a poison like that in a duel?"

"I always suspected something was off about that Divine Shield of yours. With a buff like that you could take on bosses solo, and yet not once did the moderator permanently remove you from the game or punish you for it," Galahad pointed out. "Seeing the notification for 'immortal object' just solidified my suspicions."

In spite of himself, Heathcliff...or rather Kayaba, was impressed. He honestly didn't think anyone would figure out the flaws of his so-called 'buff' and bring it to the obvious conclusion.

He could see the shock and disbelief on the player's faces, mostly due to the fact he wasn't denying the accusation he was Kayaba.

Kayaba let out a chuckle that turned into a dark laugh.

"I must admit, I am impressed. I honestly did not expect anyone to see through my so called 'buff' and realize the truth this early."

While shock filtered through the stands and outside the stadium, one player had only visions of glory in his head.

To be fair, he never liked his shitty guild leader anyway, and if he succeeded he'd become a hero before that damn Deku could completely steal his moment. He had stolen enough of his glory as it was.

"DIE KAYABA!" shouted Bakugo, attempting to assassinate the man who had trapped them there for two years.

"Really kid? You think I wouldn't see that coming with your winning personality?" deadpanned Kayaba. Bakugo found himself face-planting the ground with a paralysis effect.

Galahad couldn't help it, he started cackling.

"Oh gods, that is totally worth being trapped in this game for two years!" he said, howling.

Seriously, seeing Bakugo so utterly fail at defeating a villain after having to deal with this death game for two years? He was sincerely hoping that Yui was recording this shit to his NerveGear so he could savor it for years to come. He grinned when she discreetly gave him a thumbs up on that regard.

He had made no bones of his dislike of "Nitroburst" and had explained in graphic detail to Yui why he was unlikely to get along with the volatile teen. Even Kirito could get why he hated Bakugo.

"You see, this is just a tiny microcosm of the past two years. This fucking mastermind sees you try almost that exact same thing to no effect. Then by some HERCULEAN leap in logic that we mere mortals will never comprehend, thinks it'll succeed if he does it!" said Kayaba irate.

"To be fair, Bakugo was probably trying to kill you himself before I had a chance to since I've been showing him up ever since we were trapped in here," said Galahad cheerfully.

Don't get him wrong, he was still pissed at Kayaba, but he would at least give the bastard a quick death instead of a slow drawn out one for humiliating the explosive blond so utterly.

"Now I trust that the rest of you good people have enough pattern recognition not to follow in this fool's footsteps. Oh wait, no, that's goldfish! I'm thinking of goldfish!" said Kayaba, before he exerted his powers as the game master. "Yeah, better play it safe."

And with that, every player on that floor was paralyzed.

"Okay that, that was a good move," admitted Galahad, barely staying upright through sheer force of will. Bakugo growled, and Galahad snorted. "It's your own damn fault you're face down on the ground, Kacchan. Maybe next time think with your damn head instead of your ego!"

"Now that I have your ears as well as your spines, let me indulge myself for a moment and tell you what every content creator has always wanted to say to their audience."

Galahad grinned, as he knew this would be good.

"Fuck all y'all! Do you have any idea what it's been like to try and lead you people?! You ignore all of my strategies, you ADAMANTLY refuse to work together, and then you blame ME FOR ALL YOUR PROBLEMS!"

One brave soul decided to add his two cents.

"Well to be fair, you are responsible for a few of them."

"Fair, but counter point..." said Kayaba, and you could hear the poor idiot who dared to make that comment die... "You're DEAD. HA."

Galahad snickered. Perhaps it was his twisted sense of humor or the fact that it was all coming to a head, but he found this hilarious for reasons he couldn't explain.

"You're the one who told us to beat an MMO," he shot back, he couldn't resist. "Well honestly, when was the last time you heard of someone beating Everquest?"

Kayaba shot him an annoyed look.

"When was the last time you heard someone playing Everquest?"

"...That's fair," said Galahad. "But in all seriousness here, do you really think any of us would still be playing this game if we didn't have a gun to our heads? It was the only decent game out when suddenly Tron became real!"

"Oh, so now you've seen TRON!" said Kayaba irate.

"Kirito made us watch it when I asked about that ridiculous comment you made after trapping us here," Galahad shot back. "So what's the big plan now, tough guy? It's not like we'll agree to keep going now that I've exposed you."

"Well I have two options for you. One, everyone goes back to beating the game, or..."

"Or?"

"Or I let the three best players do their best to take down the final boss, I/E me right here, right now."

"I think we'll take option two," deadpanned Galahad.

From the expression on Kayaba's face, he was getting sick of being trapped with them too.