"That one," said Miss Fortune to the shopkeeper, pointing to one of the several strange shapes on the counter behind him. "I want that one."

"A fine choice! However, if I make a suggestion, ma'am, we sell weapons with that modification built in, plus others on top of that!" the shopkeeper replied. "Here, why not take a look at-"

Miss Fortune slammed her hand on the counter, causing the man to jump and take a step backwards. "Sweetie, if I wanted another gun, I'd have asked for another gun, but I didn't. I asked for the upgrade, so give me the upgrade. Okay?" Her words were sickly sweet, but her final word shot itself into the man's heart like a bullet from one of her guns.

"Y-yes, right away," he muttered, taking her guns and the strange object and...well, she wasn't sure. Whenever she got her guns upgraded, the shopkeepers simply turned around for a few moments, fumbled with them, and then it was done. She wasn't even sure how the object modified the gun, exactly, but by now she had learned two things: first, things in Arcadia rarely worked the way they would in the real world, and second, as long as she got what she wanted, she truly couldn't care less how it happened or what she had to do.

Soon enough, he handed her guns back to her. "Both have been given the upgrade you picked out. They should both pack quite a punch compared to before. That'll be five thousand points each. I-if you don't mind, of course!" he stuttered. Smiling, Miss Fortune handed over a fifty thousand point coin.

"Keep the change," she said, walking out the door with guns in hand and resting on her shoulders. She loved saying that. "Keep the change." It let others know just how many points she had, just how good she really was. And she most certainly was good.

Well, maybe not "hero of the land" kind of good, but that was one of the few titles she could live without. If she happened to become some sort of hero along the path to a high score, great. If others decided they weren't very fond of her, well, that was fine too as long as they didn't get in the way of her setting an even higher score. It didn't matter if someone was a friend, enemy, annoying fanboy who keeps following her around-

Wait, she thought, stopping in her tracks. Please tell me I didn't just see-

She did.

"Hey! Miss Fortune! Wait!"

Damn it.

Running through the crowd, frantically waving at her, was a young boy. Like most of Arcadia's residents in this area, he was dressed like a medieval peasant, his shabby, dull-colored clothes failing to distinguish him from the crowd and leaving his rabid enthusiasm as his only defining characteristic. He stopped in front of her, panting.

"I...can't believe I finally found you again...!" he said.

"I told you to stop following me, kid," Miss Fortune sighed.

"But...you're Miss Fortune!" said the boy. "You're incredible and like, the greatest hero we've ever had!"

Miss Fortune shook her head. "Well, you've got it half right. I know I'm incredible, but I'm not a hero. Now beat it. I've got more important things to do."

"Like what?"

She paused. Truthfully, she had nothing to do at the moment and simply hadn't expected him to call her bluff.

Hmm…given the stars in this kid's eyes, he probably thinks I'm actually off to collect another bounty.

"Uh...bounty hunter things, you wouldn't understand," she said, pushing past him. To her annoyance, the boy began to walk alongside her.

"Are you gonna go after a bad guy again?" he asked. With a gasp, he added, "are you gonna take down Qiyana!?"

"I don't know who that is, but if I haven't heard of her, I doubt she's worth my time. She's just some two-bit mini boss, probably," she replied with a smirk. "No, I only take down real targets."

Despite her attempts to shoo the boy away, he only seemed to become more enamored by her by the minute. It had been hard enough escaping him the last time he had found her in the middle of a village not far from where they were now, only managing to do it using a portal hidden behind a cluster of trees, and she suspected it was not about to become any easier.

"So, where did you come from?" the boy asked. "You weren't born in Arcadia, were you? I know I'd have heard of you before if you were! Did you have friends? Or family? Why do you only use those guns? Can't you afford other ones? I'm Garit, by the way! I didn't tell you my name last time, so-"

Miss Fortune stopped walking and whipped around, pointing her right gun at the boy's face and hoping he wouldn't call her bluff again. "You talk too much. Knock it off, or you'll find out exactly why I keep these two around."

Far from being scared, Garit gasped happily and stared at the gun. "This is so cool! I got to see Miss Fortune's guns up close! No one has ever been able to do that and live before!"

"Great," she muttered, realizing she had just given him something to brag about when he finally does go home.

"Hey! Stop!" said a forceful voice.

"Oh, come on!" Miss Fortune exclaimed as a woman dressed in armor shuffled towards them.

"Pointing a gun at a child, in broad daylight no less! I'm taking you in!" she growled.

Miss Fortune raised an eyebrow at the woman but said nothing, instead pulling her gun away from Garit and turning to walk away from the two.

"Wait! Come back here!" the guard snapped, catching up to her as quickly as she could (which, it turned out, was not very quickly). "Didn't you hear? You're under arrest!"

"Of course I heard you. Say something interesting next time, and maybe I'll even respond," she said without stopping.

"Why, you...!"

"Hey!" Garit said. "Don't you know who you're talking to? That's Miss Fortune!"

"Wait, you're Miss Fortune?" she asked. "The Miss Fortune!?"

"Now you're saying something worth listening to," she said. "That's me. Got a problem with that?"

"W-well, no! I just...didn't think a famous hero like you would go around pointing guns at kids!"

She stopped walking again and crossed her arms. "Why does everyone keep calling me a hero?" she sighed. "It doesn't even sound as good as 'bounty hunter'."

The guard ignored her. "If you're really who you say, maybe you can help us out!"

"That's what everyone thinks, hun," she laughed. "They're always disappointed in the end. Of course, if you've got something in it for me, we'll talk about it."

"How does not being arrested for threatening a child sound?" she replied bluntly.

"Wouldn't be the first time I've broken out of prison, but point taken. What do you want?"

She pulled out a roll of paper from seemingly nowhere, a trick inhabitants of Arcadia all seemed to know. Unfurling it revealed a drawn picture of a raccoon's head, though it appeared just slightly more humanoid than a typical animal's; its expression, at the very least, was one of utter contempt and very reminiscent of the look many of her targets had given her before she took them in. More importantly, the bounty under his name had a good number of zeroes attached to it.

"His name is Rolan," the guard explained. "Recently, things have been going missing at an increasing rate. We aren't sure where he came from, but-"

"Squalor Squabble," said Miss Fortune without thinking. "Hardly my kind of game, but a high score is a high score."

The other two stared at her. It was a moment before she realized what she had said, quickly adding, "It's, uh...the name of the town he's from. Been there once. Didn't like it."

"But you just called it a game," the guard pointed out.

"Look, do you want me to deal with him or not?" Miss Fortune asked.

Although clearly still confused, she continued. "Yes, well...he's been stealing all sorts of valuables from people's homes, though how he does it is unclear. We only know it's him because raccoons have been seen near the victim's homes shortly before the thefts are reported. He has even kidnapped two people, though why he wants them or if he'll kidnap others is anyone's guess."

"That's how he works," she explained. "He doesn't want to live like a commoner, so he surrounds himself with the finest of everything. Jewels, clothes, men, women, anything that has value to it. Can't say I blame him, but even I wouldn't steal from someone else. A trophy's worthless if you didn't win it yourself."

"You already seem to know a great deal about him," said the guard, "but I suppose that will only benefit you. Am I correct in assuming you'll take the job?"

She shrugged. "Sure, why not? He's worth a few points."

"Excellent! I will leave you to it, then! Come along, young man! We don't want to get in her way." The guard attempted to take Garit's arm, but he pulled it away and moved to stand beside Miss Fortune.

"I wanna stay with her! Wherever she goes, adventure will follow!" he said happily.

"You heard the kid. Guess he's with me," said Miss Fortune, her annoyance with the guard threatening to arrest her outweighing her annoyance with Garit. Soon enough, however, she realized she had made a big mistake in siding with him over the guard; his questions kept coming, and no matter how many times she didn't answer, the boy simply refused to give in.

"Look, kid!" she finally growled. "I only let you come with me because I figured you'd follow me anyway, but if all you're going to do is talk, then beat it."

"Oh, sorry! I'll be real quiet! Starting...now!" he replied, staring at her intently. Miss Fortune rolled her eyes, and the two continued their walk in silence until they left the city. Like in a real video game, the world had been divided into specific areas placed onto an overworld of sorts; there was often very little in the space between towns, though one could occasionally find a traveler or a group of weak monsters roaming about. If she knew where Rolan was hiding, it would be relatively easy to get to where he was; the problem, however, was that she had no clue. She had never seen anything resembling a castle or hideout that could belong to him, and she certainly could not remember enough of the game in the real world to recall any clues.

"Any idea where to find Rolan?" Garit asked after some time had passed, immediately clapping a hand over his mouth.

"None at all, unless you've got one," she sighed. Garit's hand remained over his mouth. "...you can talk now."

Removing his hand, he said, "Not really. You seem to know way more about him than I do. You've gotta have some idea of where he is!"

Miss Fortune closed her eyes, trying to recall any details about Squalor Squabble. What was the plot again...? I think...Rolan was a raccoon who didn't want to live poorly, so he stole things to make himself rich. But how did he do that? Ugh, that game was so frustrating I must have blocked it out...wait, he had servants! There were actual raccoons that would run around trying to steal anything you'd collected so they could bring it back to him! I remember now, I hated it because the damn things would steal all my stuff and I could never get it back!

She opened her eyes and rummaged through her pockets. A few tokens but not much else, even if they were worth a lot of points each.

"Kid, you got anything valuable on you?" she asked.

Garit shook his head. "No. Why?"

Miss Fortune tossed him a token for twenty-thousand points. "Alright, make yourself useful. Go back into town and buy the most valuable thing you can with this. Make sure it looks like it's worth a lot, otherwise it won't work."

The boy's eyes lit up as he held the token in both hands. "Wow! I've never seen so many points before! You must have beaten something really good to get this!"

"Yeah, I'm pretty great," she smiled, deciding not to tell him most of that token was from the weak monsters she had defeated over the course of her time in Arcadia. "Now get going. I want that raccoon's bounty!"

"And you also want to stop him from stealing everyone's stuff, right?"

"Uh...yeah, sure. That too."

While she waited for Garit to return, Miss Fortune wandered the general area, defeating any monsters she came across with ease. Her guns now better than ever, the weak creatures that called this area home stood absolutely no chance. As she watched the point-counter on her wristband go up yet again, Garit's words replayed in her mind.

You also want to stop him from stealing everyone's stuff, right?

"Well, of course I do," she mumbled to herself. "I mean, sure, I want the points more, but it's not like I don't care about anyone else at all."

But do you? asked her inner voice. She wanted to instantly reply with a confident, "yes!" but for some reason, she couldn't.

"Well, these people aren't even real," she said, blasting another monster that had walked up to her. "It doesn't matter if I care about them or not. It's not like I'd sacrifice a real person for a few points."

But would you? the voice asked.

"Stop saying that!" she growled, shooting a line of monsters. The bullet traveled straight through them, leaving a large pixelated hole in its wake. The monsters fell over. Her points increased yet again. A small movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention, something in the water of a nearby river. She whipped her guns around and pointed both at the monster in the river only to find nothing but a pink haired woman dual-wielding guns staring back at her. She stood for a moment and watched her reflection before scowling and sheathing her guns.

"What are you doing?" asked Garit, suddenly appearing behind her. She quickly hid her surprise before turning to face him.

"Nothing, kid. Did you get what I asked for?" she replied.

Garit reached into his pocket and pulled out a necklace with a gold pendant. "I think the shopkeeper said if you wore it you'd find more money? I didn't really get it, but it seemed valuable."

"That's perfect," she smiled. "Now, here's what I want you to do next..."

"So, heard the rumors?" said Garit rather loudly, sliding up to a small group of people who were talking near a merchant's stall.

"What rumors?" one of the women replied.

"Oh, just about a woman just outside the town with a solid gold necklace guaranteed to bring you fortune!"

The group began chattering among themselves.

"Yep, it sure is valuable!" Garit exclaimed, slipping off to find another group of people where he repeated himself.

"So, heard the rumors?"

Meanwhile, Miss Fortune stood with her arms crossed and the necklace tossed on the ground beside her, just barely within her peripheral vision. She pretended to ignore it and instead kept watch on the town gate where she had sent Garit.

"Come on, you know you want it," she muttered to herself.

She didn't have to wait long; only a few moments later, she caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye near where she had placed the necklace. She instantly turned her gun on the creature. "Nice try, hun."

The thief, which turned out to be a completely normal-looking raccoon, instantly dropped the necklace and put its hands in the air, standing on its hind legs. "Don't shoot, don't shoot! I ain't done nothin', I swear!" it said, its voice resembling a cliche mobster. She rolled her eyes and knelt down, pressing the gun into the creature's stomach. She was only vaguely aware that she didn't even find something like a talking raccoon unusual anymore. If anything, this was on the ordinary side for Arcadia.

"Not yet you haven't, but you will," she said. "Where's your boss?"

"What? My boss? I, uh...dunno what you're talking about!" said the raccoon. "I work on my own, see? I just-hhg!"

Miss Fortune had shoved the barrel of her gun into the creature's mouth. "Listen, I don't have time for this. Every minute I waste on you is another bounty that gets away from me. So let's cut to the chase, okay? Where. Is. Your. Boss?" Her voice changed from sickly sweet to aggressive so quickly that, even if she had not pushed the gun even farther in with her final word, the raccoon likely would have complied anyway. He pointed to the gun, then to his mouth. Miss Fortune retracted her weapon, leaving the raccoon gasping for breath.

"Ugh, that metal taste will take ages to get out! Look, it ain't that easy! What makes you think he'll want to see you? I mean, you're pretty and all, but he doesn't take interest in just anyone. Just 'cause I bring you to his castle, it doesn't mean you'll get an audience with him."

"Oh, he'll be interested in me," she said, putting on an obviously fake smile. "He likes the best, right?

"Miss Fortune!"

"Damn it!" she exclaimed, straightening herself and turning towards the gate. Garit was sprinting at her excitedly, and seeing the raccoon beside her only seemed to increase his joy. Truthfully, she had been hoping to "accidentally" leave the boy behind, but now that he had shown up again, she doubted she could shake him off even if she tried.

"That looks like the guy from the poster! You already caught him, that's amazing!" Garit gasped. "I knew you'd do it!"

Miss Fortune pinched the bridge of her nose. "What? No, I…kid, this isn't Rolan. It's one of his little servants that's going to take me to him."

"Hey, I never said I was-" the raccoon began. Miss Fortune quickly fired a shot that missed his head by less than an inch.

"Then say it," she growled.

"Okay, okay! I'll take you to him!" he said. He placed his paw on the ground, muttering to himself as he did so. "...hope Rolan puts you in your place…crazy little…"

Miss Fortune briefly considered blasting him right there, but he likely wasn't worth many points. Besides, she needed him to get to the target that definitely was, and so she endured his grumbles. Soon enough, a large hole opened up underneath the raccoon's paw, another trick she had come across throughout her travels but that was typically only used by high level characters or her enemies attempting to make a desperate escape. Thankfully, as she learned from experience, anything can go into them. Other people, for example…or bullets.

"Alright, hop in," the raccoon grunted.

Miss Fortune looked down on the creature with contempt.

"Make another one, and don't even think about doing that again," she said.

"Huh? What are you talkin' about? You wanted me to make a portal, so I did!" the raccoon replied.

She pointed her gun at him. "You first, then. Well? I'm waiting."

The raccoon paused, then swore loudly and closed the portal. "You gotta be kiddin' me! What did I do to get stuck dealing with this, huh? Fine, you're right, it was a trap! It would have put you over a volcano, and then you'd be out of my fur!" He opened another portal and crossed his arms in frustration. "There, happy!? A real one this time! I'll even go in first! At least that way I'll get ten seconds away from you!"

He jumped into the portal, perhaps a bit too eagerly. Garit looked at Miss Fortune in amazement.

"That was so cool! How'd you know it was a trap?" he asked excitedly.

Miss Fortune winked at him. "I didn't," she said before hopping into the portal herself.

Moments later, the portal spat her into the air. She landed gracefully on her feet, but Garit was not so lucky, tumbling about before landing directly on his behind. Even more unfortunately for him, they were no longer in a grassy field but in the middle of a dimly lit room with stone flooring which likely increased his pain substantially. A few torches hung on the walls, but they were hardly enough to cast any significant amount of light as their distance indicated that the room was quite large. All she could see clearly was an enormous window on the opposite wall, a beam of moonlight shining through it onto an empty space in front of her.

"Ow! Does using portals always hurt this much?" Garit groaned, his voice echoing slightly.

"Only when you're not used to it like I am. Now, where are we…?"

A voice rang out through the darkness. It was clear, smooth, and (to someone less composed than her, of course) quite alluring. "My dear, you're in a place of perfection, of pure love and beauty, of endless treasure…my castle."

The beam of moonlight slowly retracted until it shone upon the far wall, against which was a man sitting on a throne with one other person on each side, another man and a woman, both sitting on smaller versions of the same throne. Of course, the word "man" had to be used loosely as it looked more like a raccoon with the proportions of a human. His face was soft, almost kind, not at all like the picture she had been shown, and, if she were into animal-people, she'd even say it was quite charming. His clothing, along with his delicate features, gave him a rather regal appearance; he wore a sleeveless white shirt adorned with gold lining that bared his midriff, elegant purple pants, and golden sandals. Upon his head was a silver circlet with a deep red jewel in the center. Instead of seeming upset or confused, he appeared rather bored, sitting with his head resting against his fist. The other two wore similar outfits, although both were barefoot and had more bangles around their wrists and arms than he did. Although their jewelry was beautiful, none compared to their stunning perfection. Never in all of Arcadia had she seen two people as flawless as the ones before her. Even she couldn't help having her thoughts running off on their own…though she quickly caught them, of course.

"So, you must be Rolan. This is your castle, huh? Not as grand as I was expecting," she said, taking a few steps towards him.

"And you must be the infamous bounty hunter, Miss Fortune," Rolan replied. "Yes, I've heard many stories about you. None of them mention how incredibly beautiful you are, though. I could search all of Arcadia, and I would find few as radiant as you are."

Although she wouldn't call herself entranced by any means, she did feel a strange sensation ripple throughout her body at hearing Rolan's melodious voice compliment her. It likely did not help that it was genuine and not a weak tactic to get her to lower her guard like all of the other bosses she'd fought, which was somewhat surprising,

…well. I guess I'm going to have to unpack that one later, she thought. For now, though, the only sweet sound I want to hear is my point counter going up.

"Thanks, but the only thing I'm interested in at the moment is freeing those hostages and taking you down," she said, pointing one of her guns at him.

Rolan tilted his head to the side. "...hostages? What hostages?" He glanced at a patch of shadows to his right. "Jak, is there something I should know about?"

The raccoon from earlier ran out of the shadows and bowed. "No! We ain't taken anybody!" he said quickly. "Swear!"

Rolan nodded and shooed him back into the shadows. "That is certainly a relief. For a moment, I was worried my servants did something…unfortunate. Given they have not, however, I must admit I'm quite confused. What hostages are you talking about?"

Miss Fortune raised an eyebrow and glanced at the woman to Rolan's left. He followed her gaze and laughed.

"Oh, my dear, you've got it all wrong! These two are not hostages! They live here!" he said cheerfully.

"They…live here? But the guard told me you've been taking people from their homes!" said Miss Fortune, slowly lowering her gun.

"Yeah! You kidnapped them!" Garit chimed in.

Rolan shook his head. "I would never force someone to come here. I simply gave them the offer to stay with me, offered them as much food as they could eat, any clothes or adornments they desired, and someone who would love them unconditionally. Should they desire it, they could return to their former home right now with no consequences. I have made sure that particular condition was very clear." He wrapped his arms around their shoulders, and they leaned into his touch. "They have not done so because they do not want to, and that is the end of it."

Although it would be far easier if he was lying, Miss Fortune could not find any indication that he was. Neither had a single blemish upon their skin, and they hardly looked like they were being underfed. Not only that, they were leaning on Rolan as though he was the kindest lover each had ever known…which it was increasingly starting to seem like. They were also glaring daggers at her, she noticed.

"Miss Fortune, I don't think they're hostages," Garit said quietly.

"Yeah, and that just makes it more complicated. I might have to fight through them to take him down," she sighed.

Garit stared at her, his eyes wide. "...but…if he hasn't kidnapped anyone, why do you need to take him down? It seems like they're really happy staying here with him," he said.

"He's stolen from the town, remember?" she replied. She glanced at Rolan. "You…did steal from the town, right?"

He nodded. "Indeed, I have. Objects are one thing, but I will not take a person who is unwilling. People deserve to be treated like royalty; they are not objects to be used and cast aside when you are done with them, they are treasures that should be admired, treasures that are more awe-inspiring than even the most beautifly gilded gold. Mere trinkets and jewels, however…well, I can't say I don't feel some temptation now and then, and a king like myself deserves to have the best, wouldn't you agree? If anyone should understand my position, it's you."

Miss Fortune rolled her eyes. "Save it, I've heard this spiel a hundred times. It's all you bosses ever do when you're cornered. You try to convince me I'm just like you, that I just don't understand your position. I get you're built that way, but it makes for pretty terrible last words, so here's my advice: find some better ones quick, because your time's running out."

"And here is my advice for you, my dear," said Rolan with a smile on his face. "I'm going to offer you a chance to leave without bloodshed. Take it, and do some self-reflection. If you begin to see your own worth, I will gladly let you return and stay here with me. You have the potential to be something truly great, Miss Fortune, but you must see your worth before that can happen."

"My own worth? You're joking, right? I've got more points than anyone in Arcadia…well, unless the little Hyper Crystal Dungeon freak glitches his way into a high score again, but that doesn't count," said Miss Fortune.

Rolan sighed. "And that's exactly my point. How do you still not understand?"

Miss Fortune whipped her gun towards him and fired a single shot, just barely missing him. Rolan didn't even flinch. "The only thing I need to understand," she said, "is that there's a whole lot of points in it for me once I take you down…and if I've got to go through them to do it…" she pointed her free gun at the woman, and then the man. "...then I will."

Rolan's smile faded. For the first time, he came close to looking quite like the depiction of him she had seen on the poster.

"...Aja. Caine. Wait for me in our room. This won't take long," he said calmly. Aja looked like she was going to protest, but Rolan shook his head. "Please, my love. It's for your own safety. We'll be seeing each other again very soon." Although she looked conflicted, she ultimately nodded and kissed him on the cheek, to which he responded in kind. Caine, too, seemed like he didn't want to leave. Rolan smiled warmly at him. "Please trust me, my little treasure. You do trust me, right?"

Caine, although hesitantly, nodded.

"Then there is nothing to worry about. I promise."

Rolan kissed him on the cheek and was granted a kiss in return. With that, the two stood up and took one final look at Rolan before heading through a door on the left side of the room. Once they were gone, any sense of happiness faded from Rolan's face again as he looked at Miss Fortune. Garit, correctly sensing he should get out of the way, scampered off to the side (while still making sure he had a good view of the action, of course).

"There is no need for you to act like this. I have harmed no one, stolen nothing that cannot be replaced, taken from no one that cannot afford the loss, and yet you come into my castle looking for conflict all the same. It's one thing to pick a fight with me, but you would threaten an innocent life for your precious 'high score', and that is something I will not tolerate. Someone has to put a stop to this, and if it won't be you, then I'll do it myself!" Rolan snarled. He raised his hand into the air and pointed at her.

"Seize her."

A swarm of raccoons rushed out of the shadows, most running on all fours with a few on their hind legs, hands outstretched. She quickly shot the ones standing upright, remembering from the original game that they stole whatever you had in your inventory. Seeing she was quickly becoming surrounded by the remaining animals, she then turned towards the door opposite Rolan and fired her guns into the air, sending a hailstorm of bullets onto the raccoons. The hardier ones slowed down drastically while the weaker ones vanished. Miss Fortune smiled and stomped her right foot. A flurry of sparkles and hearts surrounded her boots, and her guns began to glow a bright gold. With an opening created, she dashed past the raccoons with astonishing speed and, once at a safe distance, began firing at them one by one so quickly that her arms were almost a blur. She aimed at the final two raccoons, one directly in front of the other, and grinned.

"Bang."

She fired a single shot, taking out the raccoon in front. The bullet bounced from its first target to its second, eliminating that one as well. The point counter on her wrist finally caught up, showing she had gained another three thousand points. She exhaled and relaxed her posture, resting her guns on her shoulders.

"Aw, is that it?" she asked. "I only got a few thousand points from that. How's a girl supposed to get a high score if you don't put up more of a fight?"

Rolan shook his head. "Even now, that is all you can think about. How lonely a life you must lead. I am begging you, Miss Fortune, let me show you the correct path before it is too late. If you continue on like this, you will only hurt yourself." He paused, stared at her for a moment, and sighed. "...but I suppose my words are wasted on you, aren't they? If you were going to change, you would have by now. Very well. If I must step into the ring in order to stop the scourge upon this land that is your existence, so be it."

Miss Fortune smiled. "Oh, please. Like I said, I've heard it all from you bosses. You'll say anything and do anything to get me to stop, but once Miss Fortune's caught the scent of a bounty like yours, there's no way to hide, and no way to win."

Rolan said nothing. He stood up, his eyes closed as though mentally preparing himself. They flew open, his gaze now fixed on her, and a strong gust of wind flew out from behind him, blasting directly into her and pushing her back several inches. Rolan, aided by the wind, dashed forward in the blink of an eye and attempted to grab the gun in her right hand. Her reflexes honed through the many boss fights she had won so far, she managed to pull away at the last second and brought her leg up to deliver a swift kick to his abdomen. He vanished, reappearing a few feet back. Rolan raised his hand into the air. A golden light briefly enveloped it before stretching into a long shape. When the light vanished, an ornate, golden sword was now resting in his hand. Miss Fortune raised her gun and shot at him, but he vanished again, repeating the movement with his other hand to create a large golden shield. He lunged forward and swiped at her. Briefly held in place by shock, she just barely managed to dodge his first two swings.

Something's not right, he's only supposed to have the powers he had in the original game, she thought. The swarm of raccoons, that checks out. But this? What the hell was Veigar planning with this one?

He raised his sword and violently swung it downwards only for Miss Fortune to cross her guns above her head and block the attack. Rolan tried to push through, using his other hand to put even more weight onto his weapon, but neither the guns nor her were willing to give in.

"You know, I don't remember you doing any of this in Squalor Squabble, but this is what it should have been in the first place! Maybe then it'd have been worth playing!" Miss Fortune laughed, feeling herself begin to slide backwards from the force still being exerted on her guns.

"I'm not bound to those rules any longer! I was nothing, the main character of a game that no one wanted to play! Do you know how it feels to do everything right, to live exactly how you're supposed to and play your part perfectly, and still be told you're not good enough!? Well, not anymore! I'm free to make my own choices, live my own life however I see fit, and tell myself that I'm enough even if no one else thinks so!" Rolan growled. "I'm sorry, I have no desire to hurt you, but I will not let you take away the happiness I have finally found after all these years!"

While he was monologuing, Miss Fortune turned her head just slightly and saw Garit in the corner of her eye, clearly trying to convey something to her without Rolan noticing but being so cryptic that even she couldn't guess what it was. She thought she saw him point to Rolan and assumed the message was, "Keep him distracted" or something of the sort. Perhaps he intended to save the day and tackle her opponent so that she could deal the final blow.

Yeah. Not happening, kid. This one's all mine.

"Happiness? You're a fake bit of sentient code brought to life by Veigar," she smirked. "You can't be happy because you don't exist. Your only purpose is to do whatever Veigar wants you to do. Looks to me like nothing's really changed after all!"

"SILENCE!" Rolan roared, finally losing his calm, kingly demeanor. Her moment finally arriving, Miss Fortune used his lapse in concentration to shove the sword away from her and fire a shot into his hand. Unable to maintain his grip on it, the weapon flew out of his grasp and landed with a loud clang on the stone floor. With the sword no longer a threat, she shot a bullet at his exposed left arm, forcing him to drop the shield which she quickly kicked away. Finally, she delivered a forceful kick to Rolan, knocking him to the ground before jumping backwards, creating a sizable distance between the two. She pointed both of her guns at him and smiled.

"Well, that didn't last long. I'm surprised you're considered a boss with how weak you are. Any last words?" she asked.

Rolan, his breathing heavy and his eyes filled with fury, slowly propped himself up on one knee, seemingly too winded to rise any more than that. He looked up at Miss Fortune. "..no matter how many times I have to come back…I will make you pay for this…! I can only hope that one day you see what you have destroyed in your attempt to get your precious 'high score'…and when you finally do, when you realize that the thing you cared about most is now meaningless, I want to be there to see the despair in your eyes. I want to watch you realize what you've done to this world and feel the fire that you currently dance in. And, if I find out you've done anything to harm my loves, I swear that I'll-"

"Alright, that's enough," she interrupted. "In the end, you bosses are all the same. You talk way too much. And now…it's Bullet Time!"

With a long, almost maniacal laugh, Miss Fortune unleashed a furious cascade of colorful bullets at Rolan, showering him with pink and red until he was no longer visible underneath the immense amount of them and his screams were drowned out by the sound of her attack's echo bouncing off the room's stone walls. When she finally stopped, when her echoing laugh finally faded away and the sound of gunfire ceased, Rolan remained upright for just a moment, his clothing torn and crown shattered into pieces, before falling to the floor.

"Aja…C-Caine…Forgive me...for abandoning you…m-my loves…" he whispered. The moment his final, pained words escaped his lips, he slowly dissolved into pixels, the shattered remnants of his crown the final pieces to go until there was nothing of him left.

Miss Fortune exhaled and lowered her guns, glancing at her point counter. To her satisfaction, it was still going up, and up, and up, until finally it showed she had gained a rather sizable amount of points. "Well, that takes care of that. Hey, raccoon! It's over, so get me and the kid out of here!" she called out.

No one came.

"...damn it. He's probably too scared to come out now that his boss is dead," she said. "Looks like we'll be walking back to town, kid."

Garit slowly approached her and stared at the spot where Rolan had died. "So he's…really gone?"

Miss Fortune shrugged. "Eh. Just for a bit, most bosses come back eventually. It'll be a while, though, and he'll remember every minute of this, so I doubt he'll try to steal again any time soon." Noticing Garit's clear discomfort, she asked, "Why? Something bothering you?"

"No, no. It's just…I dunno," he muttered.

"Fair enough," she said, turning around and beginning to walk away.

"Did you really have to kill him?" Garit finally blurted out.

Miss Fortune stopped walking. "Come on, kid. You didn't really buy all that stuff he was saying, did you? He's just told to say that stuff, he didn't really believe it."

"I dunno, Miss Fortune…he really seemed like he believed it to me. Besides, those two really liked him. Why would they like him if he was a bad person?"

Miss Fortune sighed. "...look, kid. I know it's hard to see it, but he's just a boss. No matter what he says, no matter what he thinks he feels, he's just another pawn to be used by the biggest boss of them all. This is never going to stop until that boss is taken down, and who better to do it than me? Even if I didn't care about my high score, I doubt there's anyone but me in Arcadia that could do what needs to be done."

"Well, what about Caitlyn?" said Garit hopefully. "I've never met her, but I've heard stories about her! She's the sheriff of Arcadia and she's really strong and has a cool gun, just like you!"

"Caitlyn? The Sniper Cop girl? Oh, please. She's so outdated she might as well be classified as retro by now," she laughed. "No, the only one you need to trust is Miss Fortune, Arcadia's finest bounty hunter!"

To drive her point home, she struck what she assumed was a cool pose. It apparently worked, because the stars were back in Garit' eyes as he looked at her.

"Now, if you're done complaining, we should get going before Rolan respawns. That's one raccoon I really don't want to deal with again any time soon."

Once back at the town, they tracked down the guard from earlier and explained the situation: Rolan was indeed the one who had stolen from the town, but he was taken care of and would not be troubling them for a long time.

"Wonderful news! And the people he kidnapped?" the guard asked.

"Well, they-" Garit began.

"They're gone," Miss Fortune said quickly. "Rolan must have hidden them away somewhere else. We searched his whole castle, but they weren't there. I think I know where they are, though, and it turns out I'm heading there next. It'll be a while before I come back here, but if I happen to find them, I'll let you know."

The guard nodded. "I see. Not what I was hoping to hear, but no news is better than bad news, as they say. We are in your debt for driving him off, Miss Fortune. Your reputation is truly well-deserved."

"Thanks. I'll be sure to keep that debt in mind when I come back," she said with a wink. The guard gave her a salute and walked off.

"It was so cool being able to go with you, Miss Fortune! Seeing you fight is way different than just hearing stories! Um…I have a favor to ask, though," said Garit.

"You're asking me for a favor? Remember who you're talking to, kid. I never work for free…but sure. I'll at least hear you out," she said.

Garit paused. "Would it…would it be okay if we kept traveling together? I think I can learn a lot from you! You seem really smart, and you're super strong, and maybe you can teach me how to be strong, too! Back at the castle, I was totally prepared to help you out, but you didn't even need my help! I want to be like that! I want to be just like you! So, um…please take me with you!" He finished with a rather awkward bow.

"No," she replied instantly.

He paused again, still hunched over in his strange bow. "...I, uh…"

Raising an eyebrow in response, she turned to make her way out of the city…and away from him. Quickly correcting his posture, he scurried back up to her.

"Come on! Please?" he begged. "I promise I won't be a burden!"

"I said no. If I have to Strut out of here so that you can't keep up, I will. Stop following me."

"But we had an adventure together! Isn't that supposed to like…I dunno…mean we have a bond or something?"

"A bond? Really? We just happened to be in the same place for a while, that's it. I don't have time to babysit you, and even if you ended up being useful, I don't need a partner," she said.

Garit shook his head. "I don't want to be your partner, I just wanna be your friend! Do you have any friends in Arcadia?"

She didn't, of course. The closest thing she had to a friend was Sona, the two having come across each other in their travels numerous times and gaining, if nothing else, a solid respect for one another. Still, they hardly ever talked…and not just because Sona was mute and preferred to talk through the music from her weird instrument. They simply had no reason to, and she certainly had no reason to talk to this child. Still, as he continued to look at her with reverence, she hated that she felt the tiniest pang of guilt form within her heart. She knelt down and placed her hands on Garit' shoulders.

"Listen, k-...I mean, Garit. You seem like a good kid, and I'm sure you just want to do what you think is best. I can understand that, so I'm going to give you some advice, and I want you to pay close attention. Like I said, I don't normally give help for free. Got it?"

Garit nodded.

"Okay. I know you think you need to go with me to figure your life out, but that's not how it works. Your path is one that you've got to figure out and walk yourself until you're the best at what you do, and definitely remember this part, because this is important: once you're there, don't ever stop, even for a second. Keep getting better, and keep going. If living your own story means we cross paths again, well, fine. I can accept that. What I can't accept is you tearing the pages out of your life's book because you want me to be the author. Your story isn't about me, and it never will be. It's about you, and it'll only ever be about you no matter what anyone else says otherwise. Do you understand where I'm going with this?"

Garit thought for a moment. "...yeah. You're partly saying that I wouldn't be happy traveling with you, and instead I need to depend on my own abilities and make my own happiness instead of depending on you to make me happy because that's not fair to either of us." He then grinned widely. "But mostly, you're saying you want me to get lost and only interact with you again if there's no other choice, right?"

Miss Fortune ruffled his hair playfully and stood back up. "Not bad. Maybe there's hope for you after all. If you ever do need me, don't come looking for me. If the bounty's high enough, I'll find you. Wherever there's a high score to be made, you can bet that I'll be there. Until then, kid. Stay sharp."

With that, she smiled at him and, her guns resting casually on her shoulders once more, Miss Fortune left the town and all its inhabitants behind to continue her search of new adventures, greater targets…and more importantly, the highest score Arcadia would ever see, claimed by the greatest bounty hunter in the entire world: the one and only Miss Fortune.