Brandy's Bizarre Adventure

by Von Reivanon

Brandy the Bandit lives happily with her king Oticat, her best friend Dan the Knight, and the rest of her fellow troops. But when the dark machinations of an evil King and an evil Clan start to tumble into motion, her life is thrown into chaos. Rated T for intense action, peril, heavy themes, and slightly suggestive content. And yes, there are lots and lots of JoJokes.

6. Chapter 6

Inside of a dark cavern, ugly water dripped down the walls. Inside of a dark cavern, evil secrets floated on the stale wind. And inside of a dark cavern, and deep, deep, within the castle of Ryusei_Nakao69, Brandy awoke tied to a chair. Her first instinct was to get up, so she tried to do so. But the ropes holding her were not simply too strong- they quite literally did not even move. It was almost as if she was tied with stone. So Brandy tried to look behind herself, also to no avail. There was clearly nothing to be gained by observation, so she just tried to think.

How did I get here?, she wondered. I was just barely in Chloe's room. Did someone already somehow move me?

She would have thought more about her situation, but stopped when a huge hand roughly grabbed her shoulder. She yelped in surprise, and cast her eyes upwards. But she immediately wished she hadn't, as Brandy saw the evilly grinning face of Chad was staring down.

He gave a slow, quiet chuckle, lasting for a few seconds. Then it grew louder, and harsher, and his shoulders began to move up and down. Finally, he tossed his head back, and laughed with a torturous sound that seemed to scrape at Brandy's soul.

"Oh, Brandy.", he said, and wiped away a tear of mirth from his eye. "You poor, sweet, in-no-cent Bandit." His voice sounded even more evil than usual, with a certain bizarre quality that Brandy couldn't quite place.

"You thought your clan would come and save you, didn't you? You really, actually thought that a pathetic clan like yours could possibly stand up to our incomparable might? Well, they tried, and they lost. We killed every single one of them, and drank their Elixir.", he said, and took a deep swig from a bottle that was, horribly, labeled Agatha.

"No. No, you're lying.", she said to him. "You couldn't have." And Brandy hoped he was, but she had a deep fear that he wasn't.

"Oh, we're not lying.", said another voice from the shadows, almost as intimidating. Rick stepped out of the darkness and casually spun his sword. "And now, you're going to join them."

Chad put a hand on the chair, and pushed it forward. Brandy could see a massive pit open up in the floor in front of them, seemingly out of nowhere. And then, to her horror, Chad started to tip the chair into it.

A second before he tipped her, she panicked into an idea. "Wait! Wait! Weren't you going to keep me alive?", she said nervously. "To hypnotize me?"

Chad let the chair fall back on the floor, then smiled maliciously. He scoffed quietly. "Seems like you're a little eager for that, aren't you cutie pie?"

"But no.", said Rick. "We decided to save that for someone else. So why don't you come forward?"

A figure stepped out of the darkness. His uniform was stained with dried Elixir, clearly a sign of ferocious battle. Even with barely any light, one could easily see that his eyes glowed a deep red. And as he took another step closer, slammed his hand down onto Brandy's arm, tied to the chair, and looked directly at her, Brandy gasped with unimaginable terror. For that figure was none other than Dan.

Brandy struggled to get her words out. "Dan! Dan! What are you doing?"

Dan leaned in close and whispered in her ear. To the two Elite Barbarians, he seemed to be doing their bidding, but…

"Brandy! I'm fine!", he whispered. "I'm just pretending to be hypnotized!"

Relief flooded Brandy. "Really?", she whispered back.

"Yeah!", Dan said. "They still don't know."

"Okay, that's good, but, is what else they said true?", she said, and looked into his eyes. "Is everyone dead?"

A shadow fell over Dan's face. "Yes. We're the only survivors."

In an instant, Brandy's heart fell apart, and was crushed. Dan didn't lie- she knew that just as much as she knew him. And so that meant that almost everyone she had ever known and loved was dead, and now it was only Dan and her against an entire clan.

"Dan…", she whispered, barely even able to get the words out. "What are we going to do?"

"Do?", said Dan. The tone of his voice had suddenly changed. "Oh, we're not going to do anything."

"What do you mean?", asked Brandy, a hint of suspicion sneaking into her voice. "Dan, what are you talking about?"

Dan withdrew himself from Brandy's ear, and looked towards Chad. "Of course we're not going to do anything, Brandy.", he said as the evil smile crept across his face once again. "I like it here, like this."

Brandy thought that this was just another ruse, that this was another part of the plan. But Chad shut that idea down within mere seconds.

"What, did you tell her that you were just pretending to be hypnotized?", he said.

"Yeah.", said Dan. "Little skank believed me, too."

Any relief that Brandy might have been feeling immediately fell away and was forgotten. She tried to tell herself that Dan was faking it, but she wasn't fooled for even a moment. As she saw Dan's eyes, she knew without a doubt that her lifelong friend was gone, a heartless monster in his place. And perhaps even worse, she knew that now, she was truly, absolutely, alone.

Perhaps, at this point, she should let them push her into the pit. Perhaps, at this point, death was preferable to whatever they had in mind.

Dan placed his hands on her shoulders, and gave a vigorous squeeze.

"You see, Brandy, I used to be just like you. I somehow thought that you were my friend. I even thought Oticat was a good king. Imagine that."

He began to walk in a circle around her. "But now, under Ryusei_Nakao69's tutelage, my eyes have been opened. With these fine gentlemen by my side, I have at last found what I sought after all these years. Perfection. You see, I have been..."

He stopped, and raised his sword into the air. A perfectly timed shaft of crimson light struck the blade from some unknown, evil, source.

"Purified."

The gaping pit in front of her began to darken, to deepen. An indescribable, horrible quality increased in some way. It opened like a maw into Hell, hungry for Brandy's soul. Overcome with terror, she tried to say something, but no sound would come out of her, save a quiet, pitiful whimper. Dan grabbed the back of the chair and gently stroked the back of her head determined to enjoy every bit of her last moments. "Goodbye, Brandy. It was never a pleasure."

Dan pushed the chair forward, and Brandy fell into the abyss.

With a jolt, Brandy awoke. Her eyes were still closed, and she did not move, but the cold cloak of sleep had been removed. She opened her eyes and took a quick glance around- yep, she was still on the floor. She patted herself- yep, fine. Brandy sighed with immense relief. It had only been a nightmare. A very realistic and terrifying nightmare, but a nightmare nonetheless. She wasn't dead, and neither was her clan.

But, Brandy noted with dismay, she was still trapped in an enemy castle with no good means or route of escape, and she was scheduled to be hypnotized in just a few hours. So that was still a problem. She looked to her right- Chloe was still sleeping. Brandy thought that she seemed like a pretty good kid at heart, not yet fully corrupted by the motivations of her villainous father. She looked to the left- the door was open.

Brandy laid back down, and tried to fall asleep again. There wasn't much she could do to try and escape at the moment, so she might as well try and get some sleep. Then her thoughts moved to the front of her mind. The door was open. The door was open. The door was open.

Brandy looked again, and saw that it wasn't just wishful thinking. The thick wooden door, reinforced with steel bars across its width, indeed hung wide open. So she very carefully stood up, making sure not to make any noise, crept silently to the door, and slipped out. But she stopped immediately when she noticed that next to the door's opening, there was a Barbarian standing guard.

As she was still under shadow cover, Brandy was able to take a good look at him. He seemed very thin, and gaunt for a Barbarian. He was also completely absorbed in a small wooden object he held in his hand, tapping it furiously with both hands. His attention was so utterly focused on whatever it was, that he didn't even notice Brandy walk up behind him.

"What's that you've got there?"she asked him, and leaned over his shoulder. She tried to appear as nonchalant as possible, as though she actually belonged there.

"Oh, it's just a little something I picked up on my vacation to a Builder Base.", he said excitedly. "It's a game- you're supposed to get the little Barbarian past the Teslas and have him hit the tower. See, look."

As he spoke, he flipped tiny switches on the object. And as Brandy leaned in to look, she could indeed see that somehow, a tiny wooden Barbarian was running across a tiny Arena, dodging tiny Tesla fire. Fascinating. It seemed the rumors were true- Builder Base science really was the world's finest.

"A vacation, huh?", said Brandy, offhandedly. "Cool. My king could never afford a vacation to somewhere like the Builder Bases."

"Who's your king?", asked the Barbarian, still rather distracted.

Brandy paused for a moment to think. Should she keep going with this charade, or just take him out and run?

But her question was answered when the Barbarian's mind at last kicked into gear, and he looked up at her. "Wait a minute! I'm supposed to be guarding you-"

He was cut off by the sharp crack and impact of Brandy's fist connecting squarely with his jaw. Any further words he might have said were garbled and unintelligible as he fell to the floor. His wooden game rolled out of his hand, around a bench, and out of sight, disturbing a web of latent shadows as it went. "Nice talking to you.", Brandy said. "Very insightful."

Brandy grabbed the sword off of the bench where the Barbarian had left it and bent down, pressing it to the anti-dash collar still around her leg. With a grunt and a swift slashing motion, it was off. The mechanism blinked once as it clinked to the ground, then the red light within it died. The edge of the blade nicked Brandy's skin, and she winced as it drew a drop of blood. But the slight twinge of pain was soon offset by the feeling of her Dash returning to her, like a drink of chilled Elixir on a very hot day. She took a deep breath, savoring the moment.

But things like that could wait, she remembered. There was an evil castle to break out of. So Brandy turned to see that the Barbarian was still asleep. He was. So she stretched, took another deep breath, grabbed his sandwich, took a bite, and ran off into the dark.

Ryusei_Nakao69 kicked his feet back onto the couch in front of the T.V. He stretched in satisfaction, popped his back, and flicked the remote, turning the TV on. Today had been a highly successful day, he thought. His plan that he had been setting up for weeks had at last entered its final stage.

"Welcome to this late, late night broadcast of T.V Royale!", beamed the face of the Villager on his screen. "Or early morning, if you want to be technical." She enjoyed some half-hearted laughter with the other announcer, a Wizard.

"That's right, Trisha!"he said with an exaggerated voice. "But we don't want to waste your time. I'm sure whoever's even still up this late would just love to see the top matches of yesterday, right?"

The Wizard waved his hand, gaining the attention of the Goblin on the studio crew. With a swift click of a button, the screen switched to a video of Legendary Arena. Ryusei_Nakao69 settled down further in his chair, and took a sip of his soda. He was expecting to be able to watch for at least an hour. But his plans were suddenly interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Come in!"he yelled over his shoulder and set down his soda. The door creaked open, and theSenate entered the room.

"Ah, theSenate.", said Ryusei_Nakao69. "What brings you here, old friend?"

"I have news, sir.", said theSenate, with his trademark crackle in his delightful voice. He approached the couch where Ryusei_Nakao69 sat, with a hint of trepidation.

"Good, good.", his Leader replied. "What news is it? Is it about Brandy? Did Chloe enjoy her?"

"That's just it, sire,'' said theSenate, and paused for a few long seconds. He finally managed to choke out his next words. "She's escaped."

The words reached Ryusei_Nakao69's ears, but did not register. There seemed to be some sort of miscommunication at central processing. His ears delivered the information, but his brain said no, no, you must have heard wrong. His ears replied that no, they did indeed most definitely hear right, and if there was a problem, that the brain could take it up with central command. The brain replied that it was central command, and told the ears exactly where they could go and boil themselves. The screaming match continued for a few more seconds, until the eyes made an interjection and said that due to theSenate's pose and mannerisms, perhaps there was some truth to what the ears had heard after all? The brain considered this, and finally admitted that okay, perhaps it had been wrong, and that the ears had heard correctly after all.

This entire process happened totally beneath the notice of the two Kings. The only thing that they observed was a brief second of silence, broken only by two words - "The frick?"

"But,- but- but the door was locked.", stammered Ryusei_Nakao69. "I- I locked it myself. And you even left someone guarding Chloe's room, did you not?"

"Yes.", said theSenate slowly. "Yes, I did."

"Although come to think of it, I didn't see who you left there. Who was it?"

"Ratool.", theSenate admitted.

Ryusei_Nakao pursed his lips together, and slightly stiffened. Without making any sound, he slowly stood up and turned off the T.V. He made no noise, no sudden movements, yet he was no less intimidating for it.

"Ratool? You left Ratool there?``, he yelled, and flung his arms upwards. "Ratool couldn't handle a headless Skeleton, much less a Bandit!"

"I apologize, my lord.", theSenate said. "He was just the only one available at the time. And I'm sure she couldn't have gone far."

"Well, when did you find out she had escaped?", asked Ryusei_Nakao69.

"About 15 minutes ago."

"Bandits are fast, you fool. She could be anywhere in the Castle by now. She might not even be in the Castle anymore!"

Ryuesi_Nakao69 quickly shrugged on his coat, and took out his Kingly Communicator that enabled him to instantly reach any Troops he owned. "I'm putting the entire castle on high alert.", Ryusei_Nakao69 growled. "We can't risk letting her get away. And come with me- we might be able to still catch her."

"Ryues, wait.", said theSenate quickly. "I have a better idea."

"Well, what is it? It had better be good.", said Ryusei_Nakao69.

theSenate quietly whispered his plan into Ryusei_Nakao69's ear, then withdrew.

A smile came over Ryusei_Nakao69's face, and he put his Kingly Communicator back into his pocket. "Oh, that is a good plan.", he said. "Very nice, indeed. It's very... you."

Drawing her cloak far over her head to hide her face, Brandy ran as fast as possible down a flight of stairs. She kept a close eye out for any movement, carefully scanning every single inch of her viewpoint. There was no one escorting her, no excuses for being out. She would have to be on full alert, using every bit of her skill in order to escape. Absolutely no mistakes.

Song: Danger Draws Near

The fiery light of torches suddenly lit up the wall in the hallway ahead of Brandy, and the sound of voices reached her ears. She stopped her forward movement, and seemed to almost melt backwards. But as she did so, she seemed to bump into something that hadn't been there just a few seconds ago.

Brandy immediately swept her arm behind her, expecting to hit flesh- but there was nothing. Absolutely nothing at all, save a slight breath of wind. It must have just been her imagination. Brandy remembered the approaching enemies in an instant, and leapt into an outcropping in the wall.

From her hiding spot, Brandy could see a pair of Goblins walk past. They stopped, exchanged a few words in something in Goblin. One winked, then they both laughed, high-fived each other, and then finally left. Brandy couldn't understand Goblin, but if she could, she would have heard the following conversation.

"Ayy, you going to the Clan Party tonight, my dude?"

"Yeah bro, wouldn't miss it. We're gonna play spin the bottle. 1v1 Meg."

"The Musketeer?"

"Yeahaha, mate."

"What makes you think she'll even be there? Meg's never come to anything."

"Oh, she'll come, all right. If you… know what I'm saying."

"Aw right, give me some. High four."

Once Brandy was sure they were gone, she slithered from her hiding spot, crouched onto the floor, and looked as far down the hall as she could. Once her eyes adjusted, Brandy could see the faint hint of the door outside. Or, at least she thought it was the door to outside. There was a good chance it wasn't. But if it was...

Hope swelled through Brandy, and she took off running.

But Brandy ran free, without the knowledge that someone had seen her. Down in the murky depths of another abandoned, nearly haunted hallway, someone had seen Brandy. That someone was Meg, the very same Musketeer that the Goblins had been talking about, and the very same Musketeer that had been ruthlessly bullied for days. And when she saw Brandy running away, she saw a chance to prove herself. She grabbed her gun, tiptoed down the hallway, and ducked behind a pillar. She adjusted herself just a second later to avoid rubbing against the huge, very bizarrely placed, almost overly detailed illustration of an extremely muscular man posing in the pillar.

Song: Approach

"Alright Meg, you got this.", she whispered almost internally, trying to give herself a pep talk. "Take her down, and people will like you. You'll be cool. Right."

Meg carefully looked around a pillar, and saw Brandy, silent as death, creeping through the room. Meg had heard about the things this Bandit was capable of, and she knew that she had to be careful. Apparently, she had rounded up the entirety of Kidnap Squad 6, and was seconds away from finishing them off when Chad and Rick had made their heroic entrance- and she had nearly managed to kill them, too. And-

Meg realized that if she thought about it for too long, she was going to miss her chance. Brandy had almost left the room. So Meg raised her gun and aimed, desperately trying to calm her shaking hands. With a cool breath inwards and outwards, Meg fired directly at Brandy's head- and missed by a good 6 feet.

Oh, shoot. thought Meg.

Brandy heard the bullet hit the wall behind her, throwing up a small explosion of shattered rock. Her head snapped sideways, and her eyes focused on Meg almost immediately. Meg's hiding spot was not nearly as good as she had originally thought. Meg yelped and fumbled with her gun, nearly dropping it in the process. She tried to take another shot before- no, it was already too late. Brandy Dashed across the room and slammed into Meg, grabbing her by the neck before there was a second. Meg shrieked as Brandy pinned her against the wall, sheer undiluted hatred burning in her eyes.

"Well, looks like someone messed up.", said Brandy, her voice brimming over with uncharacteristic rage. Even she didn't know what had happened to her, or what influence was causing her to act this way. "It'll be the last mistake you ever make, you pathetic little-"

Meg's hands shook until her arms spasmed, and she dropped her gun. It clattered on the stone floor, far out of her reach. "No- stop- please-", she squeaked. "Don't hurt me-"

Brandy just squeezed, harder. Harder, and harder, and harder. She was going to squeeze the life out of this weakling Musketeer. How dare she try to shoot her? Brandy's eyes narrowed, and a purple light began to emanate from her eyes. How dare that little-

Wait a second. What am I doing?, thought Brandy. Am I seriously choking her to death? Me?

Brandy's grip loosened slightly, and her face softened. Brandy didn't know what had suddenly come over, trying to just outright kill someone like that. The Musketeer had done her no real wrong.

"Hey...help...can't...breathe-", Meg choked out, her face turning increasingly red.

"Oh, right. I'm sorry.", Brandy said. She let go completely, and Meg collapsed to the floor. She put her hand to her chest and took a deep, gasping breath.

"I'm- I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me.", Brandy admitted. "I didn't mean to hurt you, really."

But Meg wasn't listening. She continued to mumble, to herself and to Brandy. "Please, don't kill me. I just wanted them to stop hurting me… I just wanted-"

Brandy put a hand on Meg's shoulder. "Woah, hey. I'm not gonna hurt you.

Meg looked up, her eyes wide. "You mean, you don't want to kill me?"

"Of course not.", said Brandy. "If there's anyone I want to kill, it's Ryusei_Nakao69, and those two Elite Barbarians."

"Chad and Rick?", asked Meg. "What did they ever do to you?"
Brandy told her, and Meg covered her mouth with her hands.

"Oh, my goodness.", she said. "I didn't know. So that's why you're trying to escape?"

"Yeah.", said Brandy, then noticed something odd about Meg. On her shoulder pads, where Musketeers had their level proudly displayed, Brandy noticed a 3. Meg was still only the minimum level.

"Do you mind if I ask you something, um…"

"Meg."

"Meg. Okay, do you mind if I ask you something, Meg?"

"Okay.", said Meg. "You didn't kill me, so I suppose I owe you something."

"Why are you still minimum level?", Brandy asked.

Meg sighed deeply, and the edges of her eyes watered. "Lechris, my king, just never upgraded me .", Meg said, then held up her hands, still shaking. "It's probably because my hands always shake when I'm stressed. Makes it so I can't aim. Really, I'm… I'm kind of a liability." She hung her head in shame.

"Well, we all have our problems.", said Brandy. "There's nothing wrong with that."

"Tell that to everyone else.", said Meg. "Doesn't stop them from abusing me whenever they feel like it."

Brandy looked at Meg, and narrowed her eyes. She was no expert, but Brandy could tell that Meg was clearly suffering from some form of abuse.

"Really?", said Brandy. "So you don't like this clan either, huh? Well, can't say I blame you."

"No.", said Meg. "I hate it. I wish I just get out of here. I wish they wouldn't hurt me anymore."

Meg's face reddened, and her eyes started to water.

"Woah, woah, don't cry.", said Brandy. "What if I told you… there was a way?"

Meg wiped her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Just leave.", said Brandy. "Tomorrow, there's going to be a huge battle. Just run away, and never look back."

"But- but- but I can't do that!", said Meg. "I'm Red. I can never change that."

"Well, why not?", said Brandy. "What's stopping you, Meg? What's really stopping you?"

"Um, nothing, I guess.", said Meg, and for the first time in her short life, hope started to grow within her. She looked up and stared deep into Brandy's eyes.

"You know what, you're right.", she said. Meg grabbed her gun, and slung it over her shoulder. "Tomorrow, I'm going to take back my life."

Brandy lifted her hand for a fistbump, and Meg took the opportunity. Meg turned to leave, when she remembered what she was going to ask Brandy before.

"What's your name, by the way?", Meg asked. Brandy looked over her shoulder, and grinned.

"My name's Brandy.", she said, and turned to leave. But then she looked over her shoulder. "And Meg?"

Brandy saluted. "Arrivederci."

Once Brandy had left Meg behind, gone out of the room, and ran further down the hallway for a bit, she came to a split. Four tunnels, each running their own direction. Strange, she could have sworn there was just a straight path to the door before…

"Well, let's see here.", Brandy said. "From the light patterns on the first hallway, I can tell that's a dead end. So no."

She turned to the second hall. "And that one smells like a laboratory- so no."

She turned to the third hall. "Smells like freshly cut grass? All right."

Without even looking at the fourth hall, she ran down the third hallway. But it didn't matter that Brandy had not investigated the fourth hall- because that one did not, technically, exist.

Brandy had hardly gone a few hundred feet when she instinctively skidded to a stop. Because right there in front of her, lovingly polishing his Hog, was a maxed out Hog Rider, all covered in shining gold. Brandy carefully lifted up one foot from the ground, determined not to make any noise. Silent as the night, she slowly moved backwards- and smacked directly into a decorative vase, which fell to the ground and shattered with unnatural speed. It hit the ground so astonishingly quickly it was almost as if it had been thrown.

But how the vase hit the ground mattered not- all that really mattered was that it did. With the crashing, piercing noise, both Hog and Rider looked up. Brandy met their gaze, and did a little wave.

"Hey…", she said, and attempted a nervous smile.

But the Hog Rider was not fooled for even a second. He stood up, abandoning his cleaning, and patted his Hog on the head.

"Well, would you look at that, ACDC.", he said. "Looks like we've got a real live escapee on our hands."

Brandy briefly considered trying to talk to him, but given her previous track record, decided that that would only end up badly. She also briefly considered trying to fight him, but one look at his massive golden hammer almost forced her to reconsider. She would not stand a chance. So Brandy performed that most ancient of special techniques- she turned around, gave the Hog Rider a rude gesture, and ran.

Ryusei_Nakao69 almost slammed open the door to Chloe's room, but then thought better of it. Instead, he gently eased it open, being careful not to make any sound, and he and theSenate slipped inside.

"There's no need to be quiet, Daddy. I'm already awake."

The voice came from far inside the room, all the way from Chloe in her bed. There she sat, legs tucked up against her, and a blanket pulled up to her knees. Rysuei_Nakao69 heaved a sigh of relief, and hurried to her bedside.

"Oh, Chloe, you're alright.", he said. "I was afraid Brandy might have hurt you."

"No.", said Chloe. "She didn't hurt me. Actually, she told me weird stuff."

Ryusei_Nakao69's brow knitted. "Oh? What did she tell you?"

"She told me that you were evil.", said Chloe innocently. "And that what we do here is wrong."

An almost visible crack appeared down the King's face. "Oh, she did?"

He put one hand on Chloe's shoulder, and tried to plan exactly how to say this.

"Well, Chloe…", he began. He contemplated saying something deep, and complicated, but then remembered he was dealing with a young child here. So he kept it simple.

"She's wrong.", he said. "That may be what she thinks, but we'll bring her thinking around soon enough, alright?"

Chloe looked worried. "Oh. I hope you're not angry I let her out, then."

theSenate looked over Ryusei_Nakao69's shoulder. "Did she just say what I thought she said, sir?", he asked.

"Chloe?", asked Ryusei_Nakao69, and slowly blinked. "Did you just say that it was you who let Brandy out of your room?"

"Yes.", said Chloe, wide-eyed. "What's wrong with that?"

"Well,", said Ryusei_Nakao69, "When I lock a prisoner in a room, it means that I want them to stay there. You got that?"

"Okay, Daddy. I just wanted to see what would happen.", said Chloe, and noticed that the two Kings were leaving. "Daddy? Where are you going?"

"We're going to catch her, of course.", proudly proclaimed theSenate, and the two left.

Chloe almost said "Hope you catch her," or "Good luck", or at least something along those veins. But she didn't.

Song: Imminence

Brandy ran faster and faster down the hallway, trying as hard as she could to escape the Hog Rider. But it was no use- the Hog Rider knew the castle far better than she did. And he was faster. And his Hog could apparently see in the dark, for all the narrow turns he was constantly making without even looking. And she was getting a little winded, while he wasn't even beginning to slow down. And also Hog Riders were the fastest troop known, and while Bandits were fast, Brandy did not even begin to approach her opponent's level of speed.

Brandy jumped a hard right, and vaulted over a fallen chandelier. Surely, the Hog Rider wouldn't try to navigate through all that broken glass. She sneaked a look behind her- no, he had come crashing through like a Battle Ram.

"You can run, but you can't hide!", he shrieked. "No one outspeeds the Hog!"

Brandy ducked behind a pillar, and Dashed to the other side of the room once it looked like the Hog Rider had blinked. Maybe he wouldn't notice. She hoped that perhaps he would run past her. But he pulled up right next to her, and skidded to a stop.

Brandy didn't try for a one-liner. She just Dashed over his head, and landed on the opposite side. Through a door marked Service, down the nondescript hall- and right into a dead end. Again. Seeing no other options, Brandy turned around, and faced her foe.

The Hog Rider skidded to a stop, and raised his hammer. "Are you giving up already? I thought we were having fun."

Brandy raised her hand in front of her. "Well. What's your name?"

The Hog Rider frowned. "My name's Vern. Why?"

Brandy smiled. "Well, Vern, you may be faster than me. And stronger than me. And a higher level. And probably more experienced. But I know I can beat you."

Vern didn't get it. "What are you talking about?", he asked in his oddly high voice.

"You see, I still have one last trick up my sleeve.", Brandy said. "The secret weapon that can defeat all Hog Riders, no matter their strength."

An instinctive, almost ancestral fear began to pick up from somewhere deep inside of Vern. He pulled on ACDC's reigns, and pulled his hammer a little closer. "What? What are you going to do?"

Brandy's eyes narrowed. "I'm gonna say the R-word."

Vern's eyes widened in terror, and he withcoiled. "No! Please! You can't say the R-word!"

"Oh, but I can.", said Brandy, and her lips parted slightly. "Ri-"

Vern dropped his hammer, jumped off of ACDC, and fell to the ground in a posture of fear. "Have mercy! Please, anything but that!"

Brandy, to tell the truth, was a little surprised. She knew that apparently, saying the word was supposed to have some sort of effect on Hog Riders, and Ram Riders. But she didn't think that it would be so large to have them on the ground and begging for mercy.

"Alright, I won't.", said Brandy. "But only if you can do a few things first."

Vern silently nodded.

"Alright.", said Brandy. "First, slide your hammer over to me, where you can't touch it."

Vern did so with a slight sniff.

"Okay, now tell your Hog to leave."

Vern met ACDC's eyes, and told him to go around the corner for a bit, using the special telepathy that all linked troops have. But nowhere was it stronger than in the special bond between Hog and Rider. With a snort of seeming indifference, ACDC did so and sat down.

"Now,", Brandy said, "I'm going to leave, and you're going to forget you ever saw me. You got all that?"

Vern nodded. Brandy found that after so much abuse, she quite liked being in a position of power over somebody. She sure could get used to this. In fact-

Brandy blinked, and pushed the thoughts aside. Such evil thoughts had no place being in her mind. She had only one objective- and escaping didn't really need to involve blackmailing people like this. So she walked slowly past Vern, keeping an eye out for any sort of rogue movement.

"Where's the way out, by the way?", she asked.

"Double doors down, to the right, continue for 6 doors, then on your left. Can't miss it, marked Exit.", he squeaked out.

"Thanks for your help.", Brandy said, and went past him.

Okay Vern, you got this, thought Vern. Take her out, and Ryusei_Nakao69 gives you all the rewards you want. We could maybe even get a new saddle!

Steeled by his resolve, he leaned down, grabbed his shining golden hammer, and turned to face Brandy, Hog or no Hog. But what he found was her looking straight at him, about to say something. He immediately knew what it was, and tried to cover his ears, but it was too late. She was going to say it.

"Rider.", whispered Brandy, just loud enough for Vern to hear.

Almost immediately, Vern's eyes widened. He clutched his hands to his temples as if attempting to drown out the sound, but to no avail. There was a high-pitched scream, and the Hog Rider revealed what effect the word on him. He exploded, and sent a splatter of Elixir against the walls, ceiling, floor, and Brandy.

"Oh.", Brandy remarked to herself. "So that's what happens."

She wiped the Elixir off of her face, and watched it melt into the ground. Vern would reform in about an hour, so she didn't need to worry. But his Hog would still need to be taken care of.

So Brandy rounded the corner to where his Hog was parked, and saw that it was still sitting patiently, just waiting for its master to return.

"Hey, buddy.", said Brandy quietly as so not to scare it, and slowly knelt down. "Hey, ACDC."

The Hog grunted, but otherwise made no discernible response. So Brandy gently put her hand on the Hog's head, and began to scratch. If Hogs could smile, ACDC would certainly be doing so. With just a few more scratches from Brandy, his ears curled, and his eyes closed shut.

"Yeah, that's a good Hog.", said Brandy. "You're not so bad. If your Rider was like this, I wouldn't have had to kill him."

When Brandy said this, she thought that the Hog wouldn't respond, that he couldn't possibly understand. But she had underestimated the special bond between Hog and Rider that no other troop, even linked ones, could ever hope to truly understand. And so when Brandy said those words, they immediately registered in the mind of the Hog, and ACDC's eyes snapped open.

He jumped to his feet, narrowed his eyes, and audibly growled. Brandy backed up, as ACDC walked slowly and menacingly towards her.

"Woah, nice Hog…", Brandy said slowly, but ACDC was beyond that point. His chops frothed, and his eyes gleamed reddish-gold from the fury of the death of his Rider, even if but temporary. Brandy didn't like what she was about to do, but she knew that it had to be done.

With a ferocious growl, ACDC leapt forward, his jaws flung forward and snapping. And in the same moment, Brandy Dashed, one fist outward, right towards the Hog's chest. They met in midair, the force of Brandy's punch blowing the Hog backwards and into the wall, where it fell and lay still.

Brandy took a single step towards it, but stopped when she saw ACDC roll over to one side, already starting to dissolve into Elixir. The Hog's eyes, filled with mindless rage just a few seconds ago, now reflected a mixture of fear, loneliness, and oddly enough, betrayal. Then ACDC melted into purple sludge that spilled across the floor, and was gone.

Brandy watched the entire process. She didn't like killing animals- she never had. Animals, in her opinion, were much less deserving of it than people. But some things just had to be done, and the convenience of a single Hog mattered much less than her freedom. So Brandy continued back down the hallway, in total, utter, silence.

It was not but a minute later when Brandy felt a chill from behind her. She turned to look- and saw a door, barely open just a smidgen, far away across the hall. If there was a chill coming from the door, that meant the door led outside. She had found her path.

Brandy grinned, and looked around. Absolutely nobody was around. Good.

So she crouched, prepared to run, and was suddenly hit with a colossal impact that launched her backwards. Brandy grabbed the floor with her gloves, and managed to finally skid to a

stop.

Brandy didn't get up from her crouch, choosing instead to stay in a good defense position. She looked into the shadows in the direction where she had been hit, and could barely see the outline of a Bandit. Brandy should have known what the receiving end of a Dash felt like. But then she realized that she actually didn't- Brandy had never fought against another Bandit before. She knew exactly what to expect from this opponent- and yet, she knew nothing at all.

The Bandit slowly stepped out from the darkness, and her eyes glinted in the low light. She looked identical to Brandy, of course, as all troops did, except for a single detail- a single red feather sticking up from her hood. The Bandit put her hands on her hips and smiled maliciously.

Song: Clash

"What are you doing, Brandy?", she asked mockingly. "You're not supposed to be escaping."

"You know my name?", Brandy asked.

"Of course I know your name.", the Bandit said. "Everyone does. I was one of the first ones to see the video that Chad and Rick sent out."

A chill ran up Brandy's spine. "You don't mean…"

"Oh, I do.", said the Red Bandit. "Hey Bailey, look at this, Valeyrie said, and showed me. Boy, you were great. Really playing up the whole helpless, screaming act."

Brandy knew that Bailey was just trying to demoralize her. But she would not have it.

"Listen, Bailey, you of all people should be helping me out here.", Brandy said.

"Why? Because I'm a Bandit like you?", Bailey chuckled. "I'd hardly call that a reason."

Brandy shifted her arms up, and Bailey took a stance as well. Their eyes bored into each other, carefully scouting for any and all weaknesses. It was odd- they knew each other in some primal way, yet they had never met before today. They both took a stance, and sized each other up, slowly circling. Brandy slowly took a step to the right, and Bailey one to the left. The two Bandits circled each other, totally identical, except for the feather.

Bailey's foot twitched, and she Dashed. Her aim was to strike Brandy off guard, and hopefully incapacitate her quickly. Maybe, if she did this right, theSenate would give her an allowance raise.

But Brandy had seen her prepare to Dash, and knew exactly what was coming. She ducked, pushed herself off of the floor, and Dashed as well. The two unstoppable forces met each other in the dead center of the room, sending out a blast of wind that blew away the dust and shook the ancient bookshelves. The fact slightly rattled Brandy- they had been standing in a hallway just moments before. What had happened?

The thought didn't distract her, though, and she leapt backwards. Bailey did the same.

"So you can Dash. Adorable.", Bailey said. "What's next?"

"Next?", said Brandy. "Next, you'll probably say "You don't stand a chance against me" or something like that."

"You don't stand a chance against me-", Bailey said, then stopped in shock. "What? How did you know what I was going to say?"

"I don't know.", said Brandy. "How did I?"

"Are you mocking me?", sneered Bailey.

"Oh, maybe-", Brandy began, but was cut off by Bailey Dashing right at her. Brandy, in an instant, ducked and threw her shoulder upwards in an effort to throw Bailey. But Bailey had anticipated the move. She struck Brandy's shoulder with her palm, launching herself upwards and Brandy down.

Bailey hit the wall, and her Dash ended. She immediately spun around and leapt towards Brandy, only to find that Brandy had rolled away. Rolled away, and right behind her. Brandy struck out with her right hand, smacking right into the fist of Bailey, extended right behind her.

Bailey turned around, and both Bandits let their hands drop.

"What's the matter, Brandy? Can't hit me?", smiled Bailey.

"Looks like you can't hit me either.", Brandy said.

"That may be true.", Bailey admitted, then tensed. "But I do have one advantage over you."

"Really? What?"

"I'm a higher level."

And with that, Bailey vanished. Brandy spun around, anticipating what she thought would be her move, but she wasn't behind. Brandy looked up- not there either. She turned in every direction, but there was no sign of her foe. Brandy strained her ears, trying to listen for any sound that would give away Bailey's position, but there was nothing. Absolutely nothing at all.

Ryusei_Nakao69 slunk out from the pillar with the man on it, and motioned for theSenate to follow him.

"Why are you signaling?", whispered theSenate. "I am right here."

"Oh, sorry.", said Ryusei_Nakao69. "Just habit, I guess."

"Habit from what-", his friend started to say, but he was cut off.

"Look.", said Ryusei_Nakao69, and gestured frantically forward. "Do you see that?"

He was pointing towards a crumpled shape on the ground, barely defined by a cape and the barrel of a gun.

"We must be on her trail.", he said. "Come on, there's not a moment to lose.

Brandy felt, right behind her, just the slightest breath of wind.

She registered it in her mind, and began to turn. But before she could, a powerful force slammed into her from behind, skidded them both across the floor, and pushed Brandy into the ground. Bailey put one foot on Brandy's back and held her there.

"How... how did you-", Brandy started to say, but her face was forced into the floor.

"You think I'm going to tell you what it took me months of training to figure out?", sneered Bailey, gallons of utter contempt in her voice. "Not likely."

Bailey grabbed Brandy's legs, yanked them underneath her own, and snatched the back of Brandy's hood, pulling her head backwards. Brandy tried to maneuver her arms into striking position, but she could not.

"Although, now that I think about it, I might end up teaching you. Once you're ours."

With a slightly over dramatic flourish, Bailey drew back her cloak, and started looking around for something. Brandy couldn't see what was going on, with her face still to the ground.

She grunted, and pushed harder, trying as hard as she could to rise. Brandy moved slightly, and Bailey almost shifted.

"Why are you still trying, Brandy?", said Bailey. "There's no point now. I defeated you."

Bailey, having finally found what she was looking for, slipped a syringe out of her cloak and into her hand. She held it up maliciously over Brandy, and clicked the needle into place. A single drop of thick green liquid dripped from the tip, and onto the stone floor. It sizzled.

"You like it?", she said. "Poison X-367Z. Got it from my buddy Hauter the Dart Goblin. This'll put you to sleep in no time."

Bailey grinned, and her teeth glinted, even in the low light. "And then, the real fun begins."

She clicked the needle one more time, jabbed it down at Brandy in a lightning fast motion- and missed. Bailey had missed.

The tip of the needle broke on the hard floor, poison spreading across it.

Bailey had aimed for what looked like Brandy's arm, but it was just, in reality, an oddly shaped fold in her cloak. Brandy saw this, and decided to take the opportunity that now so clearly presented itself. She cried out, stiffened, trembled, and finally went limp. "No...", was the only word that escaped from her lips.

Bailey sat up, adjusted her hood, and looked down at Brandy's limp form. She didn't bother to retrieve the needle. "Huh. That was easy.", she said. "From all the things I heard about you and all your all your tricks, I thought you would put up more of a fight."

She grabbed Brandy, one hand lifting her by the hood and the other hand lifting her legs. Bailey brought Brandy off of the ground, and right in front of her, grunting from the effort. "Oh well.", she laughed. "I'm not complaining. She'll make a good servant."

Bailey turned to leave, and take the pathway towards theSenate's room. As soon as she did so, Brandy opened her eyes again- and struck. For a brief second, everything seemed to go into slow motion for her.

Brandy lashed out with her right fist, straight as an Archer's arrow, aiming for the spot behind Bailey's head. It only took a split second for Bailey to notice and recoil- but it took far less than that for Brandy's punch to reach Bailey's face, plow far into her, and keep on going. Her head snapped back, she dropped Brandy, and she fell to the ground. An arc of blood trailed in the air behind her. Brandy hit the ground in a crouch.

"Ow...", Bailey groaned, cradling her now-broken nose in her hands. A steady trail of blood ran between her fingers, dripping onto the stone floor. Her eyes quavered with tears. A shadow fell over her, and she looked up.

Brandy towered over her. Her eyes burned with hatred. "Well?", she whispered. "Is that more of a fight for you?"

Bailey tried to put her nose back into place, failed, and just dragged herself to her feet. "Well.", she panted. "If you want a good fight, then-"

Brandy did not wait for her to finish her sentence. She didn't wait for anything- she just leaped, one fist outward. Bailey startled, and threw her hands up to protect herself. Brandy didn't even slow down. As soon as she reached Brandy, they both seemed to stop in midair. Yet somehow, Brandy had enough time to whisper a few words in Bailey's ear.

"Good grief.", she whispered. "What a pain."

Brandy used one arm to move Bailey's hands upwards, and the other to grab Bailey's cape. With a massive effort, she spun the Red Bandit around. Around, around, and into one of the bookshelves that lined the walls of the room. Bailey skidded down one, and then jumped into the air.

She's tougher than I thought, thought Bailey. It's almost like she knows what I'm going to do right before I do it…

Bailey stopped, and landed in a tight crouch atop the peak of one of the bookshelves. Brandy merely stood there, and watched her think.

So if she knows all my strategies…, thought Bailey, I guess I just have to fight without them! Time for something weird!

Bailey charged up her Dash, and leapt into the air. She hung there for a few seconds, then her Dash activated, and she rocketed back down. Bailey gathered up a fist, and aimed for Brandy.

Brandy saw her fall, and did nothing. She had already seen the major flaw in Bailey's plan. Or, total lack of any plan whatsoever, as the case actually was. So when Bailey came within reach of Brandy, Bailey swung her fist, right as her Dash ran out.

Brandy could see the realization on Bailey's face the second she felt her Dash fade. But she could do nothing about it. Nothing but fall. Brandy gave a mighty yell, and rammed her own fist as hard as she possibly could into Bailey's stomach.

The force crashed into Bailey like a meteor, creating a miniature shockwave that kept on going, rattling the shelves that lined the walls. Bailey's face contorted in shock and immense pain, and she fell noiselessly off of Brandy's fist, hitting the ground.

She struggled to keep herself formed, to keep herself from turning into Elixir. But as Bailey saw her own arm begin to drip right in front of her, she knew it was a lost cause.

"Do you know why you lost, Bailey?", whispered Brandy, and leaned in close.

"Because you called me a great servant. And that really made me mad.", she said, and plucked the feather from Bailey's hood.

"In other words, you lost for one reason. You really pissed me off."

As Brandy turned to walk away, Bailey finally blacked out from the immense pain, and crumpled. The edges of her body started to slowly bleed into Elixir, but she did not fully fade yet.

As an afterthought, Brandy grabbed Bailey's communicator from her back pocket. She wasn't entirely sure why, but she just knew it would come in handy later. But as Brandy slid it into her own pocket, what she didn't notice was Bailey slowly getting up off of the ground. The Red Bandit, barely keeping herself together, pulled a knife from out of her sleeve, and lunged towards Brandy.

Brandy didn't have time to react. The knife hit her right in the side, sliding deep through her skin and out the other side. Fortunately, Bailey had not been able to aim due to her heavily weakened state, and so she had hit no vital spots, or really any part that would cause any damage. But it did hurt- a lot. And so Brandy gritted her teeth, spun around with a fist, and punched Bailey again, right in the jaw. And this time, there was no slow, melting transition. This time, she just splattered into Elixir all across the floor.

Brandy pulled her hood closer over her face, and slid the feather into the soft fabric. Hopefully, her disguise would hold. Hopefully, she wouldn't need to run anymore. Hopefully, she could find the exit door again. So Brandy ran off, hopefully, into the dark.

"Come on, let's keep moving. The sun will be up in just a few hours."

This came from Oticat, riding in the front seat of his cart. The cart belonged to a massive caravan, made up of all the forces from LosDementosCT and Orfox's group. The Barbarian King had made sure to bring along some troops that weren't native to the Royale continent, in order to give the element of surprise. These included Healers, Dragons, and even a huge Siege Machine- a Stone Slammer, to be exact. The plan was to surround TheEvilOverLords' castle with a variety of different attack strategies- GoWiPe on the south, HoIgEr on the west, LaLoonIon on the east, etc. Of course, these were just the strategies that Oticat had been informed of. There were many, many different Kings all taking part in this attack, and information had been distributed to them strictly on a need-to-know basis. Their three troop leaders would all strike as part of Attack Group A, right through the front door.

"In a few hours? It's the middle of the night."

This came from Dan, walking right next to him. Mostly, he was worried. Worried about what was going to happen in that castle, and also what had already happened. What had they done to Brandy? Were they going to just hold her for ransom, or did they have something far more sinister in mind? Was she even still alive? If- when, he reminded himself, when they found her, would she be changed in some way?

"Yes, Oticat. Perhaps you should check the time again."

This almost snide comment came from Agatha, acting as co-driver. For her, there was no worry. For her, there was only hatred. A deep-seated hatred, that smoldered within her like magma. Unlike Dan, she knew exactly what they had done to Brandy. Before the battle, she had put a small, magical tracker onto Brandy's person. It was unaffected by anything that had happened, because it was ethereal. And Agatha had seen everything, from the moment that Brandy had first arrived at TheEvilOverLord's castle. She ran her fingers up and down her staff, tracing the arcane patterns, and plotting exactly how she was going to kill every single troop that they had. Brandy had always been like a daughter to Agatha, and now her maternal rage coursed like a blazing river of gold.

Randy sat on Oticat's head, staring directly at the road ahead. But he said nothing, because he was an Ice Spirit. What he did do was tumble head over feet off of Oticat's crown, onto his lap, and almost off of the cart, before Agatha reached out a hand and caught him by an icicle. The fall had come from a jolt, and the jolt had come from the cart's sudden stop.

"What's going on? Why did we stop?", Dan asked, and craned his neck to look.

"I'm not sure.", said Oticat. "It doesn't look like there's anything in the road. Just Orfox, looking around."

Oticat stood up. "What did we stop for?", he shouted.

"Quiet, Oticat.", rumbled Orfox. "I'm trying to listen."

The massive Barbarian King strained his ears, trying to find what had disturbed them earlier. It had sounded like the creaking of metal, and the loading of a round of bullets. He had a sneaking suspicion that he knew what it was, but that's all it was. A suspicion. He didn't really know. He was about to dismiss it as nothing, and give the order to continue, when he heard it again. It was closer this time, and louder. Bolder, more aggressive. Orfox slowly drew his sword, and stared into the bushes by the side of the path.

A massive hail of shotgun bullets erupted without warning, a cacophony of shrieks echoing around the bushes they had come from. Orfox swung his sword in a protective circle that blocked nearly all of them, but a few slipped through. They hit his skin, but failed to penetrate, leaving only miniscule red marks. Orfox growled, and jumped off of the wagon. He hit the ground with a boom, and spread his arms open wide.

"Who goes there?", he yelled. "Who dares to attack us?"

As if to respond to him, a figure leaped out of the bushes, aimed her shotgun right at Orfox's head- and stopped. Her eyes widened, and she stopped in midair, falling gently to the ground. She raised one hand and put it behind her head in a silent apology.

"Ah, sorry Orfox.", she said in a heavy accent. "I didn't know it was you, mi amigo."

"Shelly.", said Orfox. "I should have known."

Shelly slung her gun onto her back and smartly saluted. "What brings you to the continent of Royale, Orfox?"

"I could ask the same of you, Shelly.", said Orfox. "I'm here on a favor to my friend ChupilickytwaCT."

"Oh really?", mused Shelly. "Tell me more."

The two continued to talk, Orfox explaining the situation. He had almost gotten to the part where they had gathered the troops when ChupilickytwaCT hopped down from his cart, marched up to Orfox, and demanded to know what was going on.

"Orfox, what's going on?", were his exact words. "Who is this woman that is almost like, but not entirely like, a Musketeer?"

Orfox turned around. "Oh, this is Shelly. She's an old friend of mine. A Brawler, from the Brawl Desert. She's here to help us."

"Ah.", said ChupilickytwaCT. "Good."

Brandy tiptoed down the nearly pitch-black hallway, silent as a ghost. Her eyes and ears carefully scanned for any signs of anything, but there was nothing. She came to an immense flight of stairs, crimson colored torches lining the walls. Their light was not enough, however, to illuminate the stairs- they led down farther than she could see, into more darkness. The walls seemed soft somehow, almost like foam. Brandy thought about how huge and bizarre this castle was. It was nothing like Oticat's castle. There, the halls were large and open, everything made sense, it was difficult for even Goblins to get lost, and things didn't change. Here, however, there were mazes of empty rooms, seemingly pointless hallways, and Brandy could swear that the walls around her shifted nearly constantly into different formations.

Brandy leapt into the air, spun once in a frontflip, and Dashed down the stairs. The mysterious, unknown material that they were made of bent and swirled as Brandy passed in a blur, and reformed just as quickly. Once Brandy landed at the bottom, her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she saw a door. The door was huge, and thick, but strangely shoddy. Brandy could hear extremely faint voices coming from the other side. She decided to put one eye to the keyhole, and check what was inside.

"Yeah, so I have a 16 of Princesses."

"Wha- 16 of Princesses? Dave, what are you talking about?"

Dave tried to point to his card, and instead slid out of his chair and onto the floor. "See look. Right there. Right where I'm pointing. Right where…. Bees."

"Dave, the number cards only go up to 10.", said Phil. "And Princess isn't a suite."

These was the simply stimulating conversation coming from the five Barbarians known locally as Kidnap Squad 6- George, Dave, Phil, Joe, and Ed. They were right in the middle of a heated match of their favorite pastime- a card game they called BS. It, along with other card games, were their only non-battling, non-kidnapping, pastimes, really.

"Dave, if you're not going to play by the rules, you don't get to play.", said George, without even looking up from the newspaper he was reading.

Ed plucked the empty 2-liter bottle of Elixir from Dave's limp hand, and shook it. "I think he's just drunk, George. Does he get a pass?"

"I don't know.", said Ed. "Does he?"

"No one asked you, Ed.", said Joe.

Song: The Kakero the Bluff

Brandy recoiled from the door. She recognized these Barbarians- they were the ones who had tried to kidnap her. They seemed rather incompetent, but well-meaning. Well, about as well-meaning as anyone who kidnapped people could possibly be. Brandy thought about just sneaking- no, just walking past them. She was in the disguise of Bailey, after all, and she looked similar enough to the other Bandit to even fool herself. She tried to assume a smug expression- yep. Just like Bailey, down to the exact detail. So she put her eyes to the keyhole one last time, just to look around, and was immediately glad she did. Because Brandy saw that there was also a yawning Baby Dragon right in the middle of the room.

Brandy reg had to change her plans. Even if the Barbarians didn't notice that she wasn't their Bandit, which they probably wouldn't, given their current state and all, the Baby Dragon had a highly developed sense of smell. It would smell the Blue on her. Brandy thought about her options. Maybe, if she bust open the door, Dashed off the wall, brought down the chandelier, and…

Brandy shook her head. Who was she kidding? Even if she fought as hard as she could, there was nothing that she could do against 5 Barbarians and a Baby Dragon. If only there was something she could do- wait. Of course. It was so simple. She didn't have to go through the door at all. There were tons of other ways through this absolute labyrinth of a castle. Brandy turned around to go back up the stairs- only to see that the flight had been replaced by a dead end. As well as every other wall in the room. Wonderful.

Well, in that case, there was just one thing to do. She figured that there was a reason why she had taken Bailey's communicator, and this was it. Brandy withdrew the small device from within the folds of her cloak and tunic, and turned it on, flipping the setting to call. She scrolled through the caller ID until she saw what she was looking for- George. Or, more accurately, George with a small picture of a heart next to it. Interesting, thought Brandy. I was just going to ask him to move the Baby Dragon, but maybe I can do something a little more fun.

George's communicator vibrated in his pocket, awakening him from his reading-induced stupor.

Vocal percussion on a whole 'nother level…, it sang. Coming from my mind…

He groped randomly for it, grabbed the communicator in his hand, and saw that he had a text from Bailey. His heart jumped a bit.

I've been a naughty girl, come punish me please. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°), it read. George's eyebrows raised. He had always had a suspicion that Bailey wanted him, but she had never been so blatantly upfront like that. Oh well. He certainly wasn't about to let a golden opportunity like this go to waste.

Where are you?, he texted back.

I'm in my room. Right on my bed.

Your room? You don't live here.

Right, I meant my King's room.

theSenate?

Yeah, theSenate. Come quick, and bring all your friends.

On our way.

George stood up, and slammed his hand down onto the table with a dramatic flourish, as he was often prone to do.

"Hey, what was that for?", Dave mumbled. "I had a winning hand here!"

"One: No, you didn't.", said George. "You had a 2 and a 7. Two: Bailey just told us all to go… "punish" her. Right now."

Dave sat up, suddenly stone-cold sober. "What? Like, right now?"

George showed him his communicator, and his conversation that he had had just a few seconds ago.

"Well, alright!", said Dave. "Let's go!"

"Kidnap Squad 6…", shouted George, and they all struck a group pose. "Away!"

As Brandy, watching through the door, saw them all run away, she could not help but giggle.

She worked open the lock on the door, and slowly swung the monolith open. The Baby Dragon sat up immediately, and fixed his eyes on the strange-smelling Bandit that had just entered his territory. He was confused- did his eyes or his nose deceive him? She was definitely wearing a Red uniform, but the smell of Blue on her was quite strong. He decided to get a little bit closer, just to investigate.

"Hey, uh…", Brandy said as the Baby Dragon kept closer, than noticed the name on his collar. "Rex. Hey, Rex."

Rex tilted his head. She knew his name, which was good. But then why did still seem so unfamiliar? There had to be some explanation for this, he knew it. And Rex was going to get to the bottom of this, straight away. He started to sniff Brandy all over, ignoring her efforts to push him away. The smell of Blue was still on her. He sat back on his haunches, confused, then noticed her eyes. Unlike his own, and everyone else's in the castle, they were ever-so-slightly tinted blue. That settled it, then, in his mind. She, a Blue spy, must have somehow snuck into his territory. She had fooled everyone else, but she wouldn't fool him! She had to be stopped.

Rex growled, and fire began to build in his throat.

Brandy could very clearly see the thought process on Rex's face. First the curiosity, then the confusion, then the "deep thought", then the anger. Brandy sighed, and readied her Dash. She didn't want to have to fight another animal, especially one as innocent seeming as this Baby Dragon, but she really had no other choice. So ss soon as the ball of fire left Rex's throat, Brandy Dashed right through it and landed a ferocious blow right in the soft spot of his neck.

Rex's eyes went wide with confusion, and he slowly, awkwardly stumbled back. He tried to burp another fireball, but Brandy's precise blow had temporarily disabled his sparkbox.

"Real sorry I had to do that to you, Rex.", said Brandy apologetically, and winced. "But if you just let me pass, I don't have to finish you off."

Rex shook his head and growled. Let this invader pass? Never! Even though she had somehow figured out how to take away his fire, he still had his teeth and claws. He lunged forward, with jaws wide open- and stopped, Brandy's fist planted quite firmly right through his throat. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and her head turned away. Rex gurgled once, and collapsed into a flood of Elixir that spread across the carpet, lingered for a few seconds, and dissolved into the ground.

Brandy wiped her hands on her skirt, and sighed. How many enemies had she beaten now? 3? She counted- Ratool was one. Meg was another, but Brandy had let her go. Bailey she had killed, that was three. So if she didn't include the Barbarians, which she really thought that she shouldn't, that was four now with Rex. Nice, having a 4-4 record like that.

Brandy made her way through the rest of the room, noting the incredibly lush artwork hanging on the walls. There was a tapestry of an immense red Dragon on one side of the wall, and an even larger painting depicting a truly titanic Golem on another. Upon closer inspection, one could see that he appeared to actually be constructing the Arenas. But Brandy didn't have that kind of time. She left the room as quickly as she had entered- but not before noticing one other piece of artwork. This one seemed rather new, perhaps only just a few weeks old. It showed a heavily stylized King, bowing before a shapeless black mass holding a basket of Gems in one hand, and a wispy red shape in the other.

Brandy looked over the mysterious painting. It didn't seem to resemble anything she had ever seen, so it bore no further interest to her. She took off running, out the hallway- and stopped. She remembered that there was no need to run now. She still had the feather in her cap. As long as she was disguised as Bailey, surely nobody would try to stop her. So Brandy started to walk again, but this time casually and slowly, looking as if she didn't have a care in the world.

A Goblin Gang sprinted out suddenly from an adjoining hallway, carrying doubtlessly stolen Gold, and stopped. A pulse emanated from Brandy's heart, and she tried her best to stop it. But instead of attacking her, as so many other troops had done, they merely looked at Brandy, gave her a slight nod, and continued to run off.

Brandy silently sighed with relief. See, she thought to herself, there's nothing to worry about. Absolutely nothing at all. Surely, they're not going to stop their own Bandit from just taking a step outside really quick, just to get some fresh night air?

And with that thought, Brandy walked, not ran, further into the dark, and hopefully, further towards the door. Too bad she couldn't just ask for directions…

Bailey didn't know how long she drifted. She didn't know exactly how long it was that she spun, head over heels over head, in the infinite darkness that was the limbo after temporary death. But she did know that when she finally came to, and felt her Elixir slowly pooling back together into the familiar shape of a Bandit's form, she could feel something touching her. Bailey's eyes fluttered open, and she saw the welcome sight of theSenate slowly shaking her awake.

"What…", she moaned. "What's going on?"

"Bailey, where did she go?", asked theSenate quickly. "Did you see where Brandy went?"

"No…", Bailey murmured, still only half-awake. "She killed me before she left."

Bailey tried to stand up, then fell. theSenate caught her. "No, don't move.", he said. "You're still broken."

"But don't worry, Miss Bailey. She will pay for what she's done.", said Ryusei_Nakao69, and intricately ran his fingers down the scars that ran down his cheeks. They had begun to ache from the events of the night. "She will pay."

Brandy swung open a door with a flourish, and saw a Prince leaning against the wall. He held a small device that seemed similar to the one Ratool had been playing with. When he heard the door open, he looked up and saw Brandy.

"Hey.", he said, and raised one eyebrow. "I'm Kurizas. Want to see my lance?"

"Um… no thanks.", said Brandy, raising her hands in front of her. "I'm good."

Kurizas put away his device, and sauntered over to Brandy. "Are you sure? It'll only take a second…"

"Really, I'm good.", said Brandy. "I can use your help with something, though."

Kurizas folded his arms. "You don't want to? That's what they all say."

He bounced his eyebrows, and flashed a wry grin. "We can just go back to my room…"

Brandy's nerves tightened, and she resisted the urge to punch Kurizas in the face. She so very much wanted to just deck him, but she knew it would only end up badly. There was simply no way she could take on a Prince, particularly one this high level. Kuriza's armor glinted, and soft golden particles gently floated off of him.

"Really.", Brandy said, making her voice as menacing as possible. "I'm good. But I could use your help."

"Oh, fine.", said Kurizas. "My help with what?"

"Would you happen to know where a girl can get some fresh air?", Brandy asked, trying to calm her heartbeat. "I cannot manage to find the way outside tonight for some reason."

"Oh, that's easy.", said Kurizas with a winning smile. "You see, where we are now, that's the secondary off-galley auxiliary hallway. Now, what you need to do is go down these stairs, off this room, up this elevator, and…"

Kuriza's explanation continued for a full half a minute. By the time he was done, Brandy had forgotten most of what he had said, and her head was spinning so badly she wasn't even sure that she could have remembered if she had tried.

"...and then you should be just outside the southwest exit door.", Kurizas finally finished, and looked up. "Did you get all that?"

"You know what?", Brandy sighed. "Maybe I'll just find my own way out."

She started to walk around Kurizas, when he grabbed her shoulder. "Maybe I could show you the way?"
"No!", Brandy shouted, then stopped, seeing Kurizas's surprised expression. "I mean, you probably have lots of stuff to do, and what I really need is just some alone time. You know?"

Kurizas frowned. "Oh, right. But you're sure you don't want to see my lance before we part ways?"

"Yes. I am.", Brandy said, and left.

Kurizas opened the door to one of his stable rooms, which was right next to where he was, looked at his little pony, and sighed. He took a lance off of the wall and looked at it.

"Nobody wants to see my lance.", he said morosely. "And I just painted it, too…"

Further down in the Clan Castle, in somewhere approaching the middle, or whatever could be called the middle in such a crazy, noisy, bizarre Castle, there was a large room. All the lights were off in that room, and if one were to stand just outside, they could hear moans and grunts of pleasure coming from within. A sign on the door, crudely nailed, read "Chad and Rick's room, don't enter if you want to remain the way you currently are, which is most likely in good health".

Finally, after several minutes of this, there was a wavering cry, and the lights flicked on. The door creaked open, and a Valkyrie walked out. Her bright red hair was frizzled and lay crooked. Her clothes struggled to contain her generous curves, large even for a Valkyrie. Various points of jewelry adorned her, in such places as her ears, her fingers, and her navel. She adjusted her top, wiped a bead of sweat off her brow, and turned to the room's interior.

"Hey, there's a soft alert for the prisoner.", she said. "She just barely escaped. Thought you should know."

"Thanks, Valeyrie.", said a gruff voice from somewhere inside of the room. "I'll be on the lookout. See you later, babe."

"See you later, Chad.", said Valeyrie, and closed the door. She continued out into the hallway, thinking about where she should go now. Perhaps she should help with party setup- it was only just a few hours away. Or maybe she should just take a walk. But Veronica seemed to be heading some sort of seance in the basement, that sounded fun. Or perhaps, Valeyrie thought coyly, maybe she should just go back into the bedroom for round 6 with Chad…

She saw a red Bandit walk quickly past her, and noticed the familiar feather in her hood. "Hey Bailey.", she said offhandedly.

Brandy just kept on walking. Okay, I think I'm getting closer to the exit now, she thought. Just a few hundred more feet, and I'll be free. Just another-

She stopped walking. Wait. Was I supposed to say something? Shoot, I was supposed to respond! I'm supposed to be Bailey!

Brandy felt a hand roughly grab her on the shoulder, and she flinched. She was suddenly spun around, to find herself staring right into the frown of a very angry Valkyrie, hands on her hips and leaning right into Brandy's face.

"Alright everyone, we're stopping here."

Orfox raised a huge hand into the air, and the caravan train stopped. ChupilickytwaCT looked up in puzzlement. "Why? What's going on?"

"It's always a good idea to take a small break every few hours.", said Orfox. "We rest 10 minutes, and then continue onwards."

"I appreciate the sentiment, but I'm not sure we have enough time.", said ChupilickytwaCT. "Every moment we're not attacking their castle is a moment wasted, as far as I'm concerned."

"Yes, but good luck attacking anything if you're winded from the journey.", said Orfox cheerfully. "Trust me. I do this kind of thing every day."

"Well, if you say so.", said ChupilickytwaCT, and turned to the rest of the train. "Alright everyone, take a break. Food, Elixir, just to stretch, whatever you need."

"Ah, finally.", said Dan, and stopped walking. His legs had been killing him for the last 8 miles or so, and a rest stop was greatly appreciated. He leaned back and stretched, then popped his arms and swung them in a circle to limber up. He grunted and popped his bottle of Elixir from his belt, taking a deep, refreshing swig.

"My, you seem oddly cheerful.", said Agatha. "What's got into you?"

"Do I seem cheerful?", Dan asked. "Because I'm not. Not really."

"Yeah, didn't think so.", Agatha nodded as she pursed her lips together. "How are you feeling, then?"

"Mad.", Dan said. "I'm mostly just feeling mad."

"Me too, Dan.", said Agatha quietly, and again stroked her staff. "Me too."

Song: Bouryaku no Hate

"Yes, rage.", came the authoritative sounding voice of Bowza from somewhere behind them. "A powerful stimulant, to be sure, but useless without the proper training."

Dan turned to see Bowza hovering several feet in the air, arms and legs crossed, his arrow of magical light floating just over his hands. "What are you saying, Bowza?"

"Exactly what it sounded like.", Bowza replied mysteriously. "You must learn to harness your feelings, or they are all but worthless."

"And I suppose you're going to teach me to do so?", Dan asked. Usually, Bowza didn't actually help with anything he prescribed, choosing instead to sit quietly and watch.

"Yes.", said Bowza, to Dan's surprise. "I will."

He slid back down onto the ground, and sheathed his bow and arrow. "Dan, it's time you learned."

"Learned what?", Dan asked slowly.

Bowza was silent for a few seconds, then made a slight gesture towards a nearby river. "Come. Follow me."

Dan did so, walking behind the silent Magic Archer. As they walked, Dan tried to guess what was going to happen based on Bowza's expression and manner. But they did not or barely changed, as per the usual. Finally, they arrived at the river, and Bowza suddenly stopped. Dan lurched to a halt just behind him. Bowza was silent, until he spoke.

"There is a power, Dan, that is not understood by most.", he began. "A mysterious power that flows through everything, brought by the magic of the sun, the stars, and even life itself."

"What are you talking about?", Dan asked. He had never heard of anything like this.

"It has many names, depending on where you are.", Bowza continued, seemingly oblivious to hearing Dan. "The Force, the Ripple, the Wind- but for now, you can simply call it-

Bowza breathed in, and Dan could swear that he saw a faint flicker of golden light enter Bowza's mouth. Then, he breathed out, and the exhaled breath multiplied exponentially into a rush of wind that bent the grass.

"The Star!", Bowza shouted, and slammed his fist right into a turtle that lay sleeping on a rock. Dan cried out, but was abruptly silenced when the force of Bowza's blow somehow continued on past the turtle, breaking the rock and dissipating as ripples in the water. Bowza turned, and slightly smiled at Dan's shocked expression.

"Would you like to learn, Dan?", he said. "I foresee that in your current state, you will be insufficient for what you plan to do."

Dan outstretched his arms. "Teach me."

"Yo. Bailey. What's your deal?", said Valeyrie, with a slight tinge of anger on the edge of her voice. One finger aimlessly ran down the side of her axe, tracing some design in the blade.

"Um, hey?", Brandy squeaked nervously, hoping her disguise would hold under such harsh scrutiny.

"Hey, what?", Valeyrie spat in annoyance.

"Hey... how you doing?", Brandy managed to say, tilted backwards as the menacing Valkyrie leaned backwards.

"What? Did you forget my name or something?", Valeyrie demanded. "Honestly Bailey, you've always been a bit of an airhead, but this is just a whole new level."

"What? No, I didn't forget your name.", said Brandy, and scratched the back of her neck. "Of- of course not…"

"Really? Then what is it?"

Brandy had already been trying to remember. She had seen this Valkyrie before, she knew it. She just could not quite remember where. Somewhere else in the castle? No. In Chloe's room? No. In the dungeons? No. And then, Brandy remembered. She had been with Veronica and her apparent boyfriend. Veronica had said her name- but Brandy could not quite remember it. It was right on the tip of her tongue, it was almost said, it was- it was- it was-

"Valeyrie.", Brandy burst out. "I know your name's Valeyrie."

Valeyrie just snorted. The entire thought process had taken less than a second, so there was no reason for her to be suspicious. But even still, something about who seemed to be Bailey's composure was off. Perhaps it was in the way she carried herself, or the way she spoke. Or maybe her movements. It was certainly something, however. Valeyrie silently cursed Bandits' almost total lack of distinguishing features. Valkyries, such as herself, had different hair colors. Goblins decorated themselves almost to the point of indulgence. Even Royal Recruits usually had something to tell them apart- a badge, or some sort of mark scratched into their armor. But Bandits had nothing- save for the feather that Bailey always wore proudly. And it was most certainly there.

"Well, good.", said Valeyrie. "Nice to see you still know your place, Bailey. Now step aside, I've got places to be."

Valeyrie moved one arm to shove Brandy aside. But she did not move. Instead, she stood there, a silent fire slightly lit in her eyes.

Valeyrie tried again, slightly harder, but with mostly the same result. "Bailey, what are you doing?"

"Did you just tell me…", Brandy said slowly, "to learn my place?"

She shakily raised a fist into the air, right in front of her face. "I don't think you know this, Valeyrie, but…

Her eyes flashed, and sparks of purple floated off of her skin. "I know my place. And it sure isn't below people like you."

Valeyrie started to say something. Perhaps it was an outburst of indignity. Or perhaps a question of what exactly Bailey was going on about. But whatever it was, she never got a chance to say it. Because when Valeyrie saw Brandy's eyes, she saw that they were shining a very, very light blue. Valeyrie leaned back, and moved her hands to grab her axe.

"Hold on a minute.", she said. "You're not Bailey. You're the prisoner, aren't you."

What she said was not a question. They both already knew the answer. Brandy, too, took a step back. She shifted into a battle stance, already searching for Valeyrie's weaknesses. She searched for all the obvious ones- head. Blocked by one of her axe blades. Shoulders and hips- Cleverly protected by arm placements. Heart- covered by her axe's pole. Perhaps she would have some more luck in the less obvious ones.

"So what are you doing out, Brandy?", Valeyrie asked. "Oh, don't look surprised. Of course I already know your name."

But Brandy didn't look surprised- she hadn't even heard what Valeyrie was saying. For she was focused on one thing, and one thing only- getting out. There were more weak points to study. Feet- no, those boots looked rather tough. Midsection- ah, there it was. A diamond stud adorned her navel. If Brandy ripped it out, she imagined that it would be quite painful. Brandy looked up, and prepared to fight. But to her surprise, Valkyrie didn't attack. Instead, she just chuckled, and slammed her axe into the ground.

"You know Brandy, I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Valeyrie, the Valkyrie. Level 12, gonna be level 13 in just a few days. I'm also kind of the Princess behind Princess around here. Most people will do what I say. I'm also Chad's girl- I'm sure you're familiar with him?"

"More than I'd like to be.", said Brandy, and took a stance. "Far more."

"Really? All he did was kidnap you.", said Valeyrie. "You must have been only conscious for just a few minutes."

"Oh, he didn't just kidnap me.", said Brandy. "He did something far worse."

Valeyrie's eyebrow raised. "Oh? What?"

"I'm sure you know.", Brandy hissed. "I don't think he's as faithful of a boyfriend as you think."

Valeyrie's expression remained motionless for several seconds, then the corners of her mouth cracked upwards in a smile. To Brandy's surprise, Valeyrie threw back her head and laughed. "Oh, dearest! Do you not know what an open relationship is? We'd already agreed on this- if either Chad or me wants to fool around, it's okay."

"How disgusting.", Brandy said. "What do you even see in a monster like that?"

And don't call me dearest, Brandy thought but did not say. She didn't think it was really that good of an idea to antagonize Valeyrie any further.

"Oh, lots of things.", Valeyrie said. "He always brings home tons of new servants like you, he gets me almost more presents than I know what to do with, and he's the only one I know who can handle this much thicc."

Valeyrie curled her arm and kissed her bicep. "See, look at these muscles Brandy. I can practically taste your jealousy. Jealous of how I'm all big and strong, and you're just so small and fragile."

"Not really.", said Brandy. "Honestly, I don't really want muscles. They just slow you down, you know?"

She crouched backwards on one foot, preparing herself to Dash. The more she could catch Valeyrie off guard, the better.

"Oh- I suppose you haven't introduced yourself yet.", said Valeyrie with mock concern. "But don't bother your little head with it- I'll just do it for you."

Valeyrie tilted her head, and pointed at Brandy. "Let's see, you're a scared little Bandit, only level 9, oh my, somehow managed to sneak this far in the castle without anyone noticing, unwilling to accept fate, and all in all, just a little wimp, with nowhere to run."

"Oh? Is that what you think?", Brandy asked, although she already knew the answer. "I guess we're just going to ignore usage rates then. 20% for me, and a measly 7% for you. I'm more popular than you could ever be."

"Really?", asked Valeyrie. "More popular? Is that why you have no friends?"

She started to return her axe to her shoulder, and Brandy could sense that she was about to strike. "Perhaps you need to be taught a little lesson, naughty girl."

"What are you talking about? I have friends,", Brandy said. "Lots of them."

"Oh really? And where are they now? Saving you? No? I didn't think so.", Valeyrie said, and shifted into a battle stance, ready to strike.

"By the way,", Brandy said, determined to get in the last lick. She probably shouldn't have said this, in retrospect, but it just felt so good. "There's no such thing as thicc. It's just fat."

Valeyrie's eye twitched, and Brandy instinctively leaped backwards.

She was immediately glad she did, for Valeyrie swung her axe in an enormous circle, almost too quickly for Brandy to keep up. The axe sang as its gleaming edge cut through the air, slicing off a bit of stone from the wall, and swung back into Valeyrie's hands.

"Come here, you little twerp!", she screamed. "I'm gonna beat you to a pulp!"

Song: Decisive Battle

Apparently, Brandy's insult had touched a deeper nerve, causing Valeyrie to all but abandon her previous calm demeanor. This was good- Brandy would gladly take any advantage she could get, and keeping Valeyrie off-kilter was most certainly one of them.

But as soon as Valeyrie had her axe back in hand, she attacked again- this time swinging down. Brandy rolled to one side, spinning on her hands and just narrowly dodging the enormous weapon. The axe's golden edge stuck in the stone of the floor, and stayed there.

"You know, I've been called a lot of things.", Brandy said. "But until now, twerp has not been one of them."

"What are you blathering about?", Valeyrie grunted as she tried without success to wrench her stuck axe out of the stone floor.

"Oh, nothing.", said Brandy. "Just distracting you."

Then, for just a second, Brandy vanished- and reappeared as a blur of speed that flashed across the room in a second and planted her foot right into Valeyrie's face. Brandy had landed a solid hit, and Valeyrie didn't block it at all. So surely that had done some significant damage, right?

But it hadn't- not really. Valeyrie grabbed Brandy's foot and yanked it aside, revealing her reddened face of anger. With a mighty yell, Valeyrie swung Brandy into the floor, sending her skidding. She managed to right herself just before she hit the wall, looking up to see Valeyrie finally dislodge her axe from the floor. Valeyrie rushed forward, and spun herself into a red tornado that gleamed with the glint of deadly metal.

Brandy prepared herself to Dash once again, although it appeared to Valeyrie that she was just standing there. Distracted and blinded by anger as she was, she could not see the subtle vibrations that accompanied the pre-process. So Valeyrie swung her axe in a diagonal, aiming for maximum damage- and Brandy Dashed. As she did so, she aimed for a patch of the ground right behind Valeyrie, phasing right through her intangibly, and spun to a stop. But Valyerie had somehow predicted that Brandy would try something like this. She quickly pivoted around, and wasting no time, she threw her axe.

Brandy wasn't ready for such a move- she hadn't expected for Valeyrie to do such a thing. Valkyries didn't throw their axes- it just wasn't a thing that they did. Unless Valeyrie had been taking lessons from an Executioner or something, but that did not seem very likely. Executioners were typically introverts, not likely to get along with a Troop as outgoing as a Valkyrie. So Brandy's eyes widened and she yelped in surprise, just barely managing to dodge out of the way and Dash upwards, into the ring of storage space that ringed the room.

Valeyrie's eyes scanned the storage space, looking for any sign of movement that would betray Brandy's position. But Brandy held as still as a statue, and Valeyrie saw nothing.

"Come on down from there, Brandy.", she said, slowly and menacingly. "I won't hurt you...much."

Almost in opposition to what she had said, Valeyrie slowly swung her axe. Brandy decided this was a good time to start moving.

"You know, you sure seem to take a lot of pride in that axe of yours.", Brandy said, trying to project her voice as much as possible. She started to slide around the elevated edges of the round room, in order to not give away her position if she had to. "I wonder how much you could do with it."

"You really wanna see what I can do with it?", Valeyrie said. "Just you wait. Just hold on a second…"

Valeyrie aimed her axe, trying to pinpoint Brandy's position. Just one more solid throw would decide this match. That much Valeyrie knew. After all, she was a big, strong, high-level Valkyrie, and Brandy was just a small, weak, never-been-upgraded Bandit. Right?

"You can do a lot of stuff with it.", Brandy continued, and started to break off loose bits of sharp stone from the ancient, crumbling walls around her. "Chop things, stab things, even throw it. But I wonder, how well can you deflect things with it?"
Valeyrie brought her axe up into a defensive position, and Brandy threw her makeshift knife, carved out of the rock she had been breaking. It sailed through the air, and was almost immediately smacked aside by the flat end of Valeyrie's axe. It hit the wall, and shattered into pieces. Valeyrie slowly put her axe down, and Brandy continued to move.

"Oh, was that it?", Valeyrie asked. "Looks like my deflecting game's pretty nice."

"Yes, for just one knife.", said Brandy, and worked faster, almost at a fever pace. Each blow to the oddly fragile wall made a new shard of stone, a new knife, a new weapon, and Brandy was throwing a lot of blows. Within just seconds, there was a circle of ready to throw blades positioned around the top of the storage space. "But I wonder if even you will be able to deflect so many knives when I throw them all at once?"

"All at once, huh?", Valeyrie whispered. "Come on then. Throw her handful."

In an instant, Brandy Dashed. She managed to spin her way all around the circle, grabbing each knife where it lay and threw it right at Valeyrie. A storm of stone surrounded the Valkyrie, and she swung her own weapon. It swung and sang through the air, scattering, blasting, and smashing knives aside by the dozen. But even Valeyrie, with all her strength and all her speed, could not deflect them all, and two razor sharp slices of stone slipped through and stabbed her in the chest. A spurt of blood came from both the impact point and Valeyrie's mouth, and she collapsed on one knee.

Gotcha!, Brandy thought excitedly, being able to see from her hiding place. That's another enemy down, just who knows how many more to go.

But to Brandy's surprise, Valeyrie did not fall, or splash into the sweet purple of Elixir. Instead, she drew a knife from her chest, licked off the blood, and flung it directly at Brandy's position. Brandy just barely managed to yank her head to one side, and the knife continued on past her, scratching her cheek hard to enough to cut through the skin and landing buried deep inside of a clay jar. However, the knife did not stay buried for long, because the jar exploded within a second, sending a rain of Elixir down from Brandy's hiding spot and onto Valeyrie's face.

"Oh.", said Valeyrie, after a moment of thought. "I killed her."

Then she realized exactly what this meant. Despite all that they had done to her, Brandy was still very much Blue. Which meant that in this Red territory, she wouldn't respawn. Which meant that Ryusei_Nakao69 had just lost the Bandit he had been trying to get after for weeks. Even worse- Valeyrie belonged to him, so she had to tell him what had happened. She slapped her hands to her cheeks.

"Oh shoot!", she whispered. "What do I do now? What do I do?"

Valeyrie was so caught up in her own thoughts that she failed to notice the slight sounds of Brandy creeping up from her hiding spot, over the railing, and preparing to leap. She did not notice the shadow that loomed overhead, nor the small blue sparks that spat from Brandy's feet as she built up a charge.

"Maybe I should just say that she committed suicide.", Valeyrie mumbled to herself. "Yeah, that's it. No, he'll see right through it. Maybe if I go up there and gather up all her Elixir, we might be able to reconstitute her? Maybe… maybe…"

Valeyrie squinched her eyes shut to think, and Brandy took the moment. She leapt off of the railing, towards Valeyrie, and Dashed all in the same moment, slamming into Valeyrie's back with a force strong enough to break through stone. A startled cry flew from the Valkyrie, as the force of Brandy's kick propelled them both into the wall, where the stone broke with a satisfying crunch. Brandy jumped back, and took another stance.

Even though her face was hidden from view, Brandy could still see the sheer anger practically steaming from Valeyrie. She flexed her muscles, and the stone around her broke. As she turned around, she wiped a trail of blood from her forehead and sneered. "You…"

Brandy shrugged. It looked like despite the stats gap, the level gap, and the probable experience gap, she was somehow winning this fight. "What?"

"Looks like you didn't die back there after all.", said Valeyrie, and lifted her axe. "But you're sure gonna wish you had."

Brandy prepared herself. Or so she thought she had. But faster than she could move, almost faster than she could see, Valeyrie jumped forward, and threw her axe. Brandy dropped to her knees, and the axe shone as it flew just over her head, striking the opposite wall. Brandy tried to slide to her feet again- but Valeyrie's knee collided with her undefended face, sending a wave of pain through her nose and slamming her backwards again. There was another hard blow to her left shoulder, one that sent a resonant pop throughout the room. There was worryingly little pain.

Brandy half-jumped, half-staggered to the back wall. Her breathing was heavy, and her left arm hung uselessly by her side- now dislocated. But she still had one good arm left, and Valeyrie was a wide open target without her axe. Brandy was not quite sure why she had thrown it. So Brandy grabbed one of her fallen knives, raised it into the air, aimed, and-

Valeyrie's axe, having bounced off of the wall, spun into the air, hung there for a second, and then finally bounced off of a different wall, came soaring through the air and knocked the knife right out of Brandy's hand, returning to Valeyrie's grip like the thrown axe of an Executioner. It appeared that she had been taking lessons after all. Brandy dropped her hand, and stared Valeyrie dead in the eye.

"Where'd you pick that up fro- ooph!", Brandy said, as her sentence was interrupted by a hard elbow to the gut. Valeyrie didn't even wait until Brandy had hit the floor- she grabbed her by the face and slammed her into the ground first, a loud crack coming from the impact of skull against stone. Brandy cried out in pain, and Valeyrie flipped her over.

Brandy planted her hand onto the stone floor, and tried to push herself up, but Valeyrie slammed her heel into Brandy's hand, pinning her down. "Stay.", she whispered, and drew back her other leg. Brandy's eyes widened, and she tried to roll away, but there was no escape. Valeyrie's boot slammed into Brandy's stomach in a vicious kick, and pain spread throughout her body. Then there was another. And another, and another. Valeyrie had Brandy helplessly pinned to the ground, and was kicking the life out of her.

"What's the matter, you little twerp?", Valeyrie growled as she continued her savage beating.
"Don't have any one liners to say? Nothing clever? Come on Brandy, don't disappoint me now."

Valeyrie hit Brandy's chest with a particularly vicious kick, and Brandy coughed in pain. There was blood among the cough, blood that came flying out and landed on Valeyrie's leather boots.

"Aw, look at that.", said Valeyrie. "You got blood all over my boots."

She withdrew the foot that was keeping Brandy pinned down, and kicked once more- this time as hard as she could. The blow flipped Brandy over again, and she could hear a sharp crack. Only once the immense pain started to flood into her chest did Brandy realize that it was one of her own ribs that had been broken by the attack.

"That's it, then.", Valeyrie said, as she loomed triumphant over Brandy, a beaten and bloody heap on the floor. "I win. You're coming with me."

She reached down to pluck Brandy off the floor. But right then, something happened. Brandy's eyes opened, and stared directly into Valeyrie's. Determination filled her, driving away the fear and pain. Remarkably, she jumped up, and sprang backwards on one foot. She still bled from the mouth, but the trail of blood was rapidly slowing.

"Huh. Could have sworn that would finish you.", Valeyrie mumbled. "It's not often you see a Bandit with your determination. Probably why Rysuei_Nakao69 picked you."

"He picked me?", Brandy asked, trying her best to sound confused. She had already known this, but anything to keep Valeyrie talking while Brandy charged up her Dash was something good.

"Oh, yeah.", said Valeyrie. "Of course he did. He was after you for weeks. Took even a genius like him to formulate a plan this utterly foolproof."

"I don't think it's as foolproof as you think it is.", Brandy said. "You see, my Clan's coming to rescue me in just a few hours."

"Oh, they are?", Valeyrie said. "Yeah, that's not going to go well for them. Just like last time."

"Last time?", Brandy said with alarm. "What do you mean, last time?"

"Last time a Clan tried to rescue a Troop that we took.", Valeyrie explained. "They just didn't stand a chance against our might. Their clan was tougher than yours, too- a lot tougher. Took only a few minutes to finish them off- and then we slapped a good old protocol B on that Princess that we took."

"Protocol A?", Brandy mumbled. That sure sounded suspicious. She hoped she wasn't protocol B. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, nobody's told you yet, have they?", Valeyrie mused, and smiled. "You see, we have a bit of a system around here. Whenever we steal someone, we usually have three options on what to do with them. There's Protocol A, the most common one. We just send a little letter to their King, telling him what we've done, and that he'll get his oh-so-precious Troop back if he just pays a little ransom. You know, nothing much, really only around a million Gold or so. If he doesn't pay up, or we decide we don't want ransom, we do Protocol B. We hypnotize them, and they become part of us. Willingly, and forever."

"I see.", Brandy noted. She wasn't sure she even wanted to know Protocol C. "So I guess I'm Protocol B, then?"

"Oh no, no, no.", said Valeyrie with a knowing grin. "You're Protocol C."

"And that is?"

"Well first, we hypnotize you. Then we sell you to the highest bidder and they can do what they want. Then all traces that you ever existed are destroyed, and we remove everyone who could have possibly known you from the world. Personally, I like to call it the Redacted Protocol."

"How many?", Brandy said quietly, and noted the state of her Dash. Soon, it would be ready. But not quite yet- she still needed to stall Valeyrie for just a little while longer.

"What?", Valeyrie asked. "How many what?"

"How many people have you taken?", Brandy said, slightly louder this time. "How many innocent Troops have you bent to your will? How many lives have you destroyed?"

"You know, Ryusei_Nakao69 actually has an official statement on that.", Valeyrie said.

Of course, Brandy thought.

"Yes, let me just try and remember it-", Valeyrie said, then her eyes lit up as she remembered it. "Ah, yes."

She pointed one finger into the air. "He says: Oh, be honest. Do you remember every cup of Elixir you've ever drunk?"

Brandy nodded. "I see."

She mentally tested her Super-Dash. Yep, it was ready. "Well, you can bet he's gonna remember me.", she growled. "For better, or for worse."

Song: Fight to Antagonize

And with that, she unleashed all of her built up momentum, and charged.

Valeyrie crossed her axe in front of her chest- but was too slow for Brandy's overwhelming speed. Faster than even the near-max Valkyrie could respond, Brandy swung her leg and kicked the axe, knocking it the axe to one side. She drew her fists forward, and could see the surprise and shock reflected in Valeyrie's eyes. With her target wide open, Brandy attacked.

"Doraoraoraoraora!", she roared, and threw a barrage of punches so fast they blurred. A shockwave appeared on Valeyrie's skin every time Brandy struck. She hit various parts of Valeyrie's body- her chest, her arms, her face- connecting squarely each time. Finally, Brandy drew her fist underneath her legs, and lashed upwards with a ferocious, mighty blow that snapped Valeyrie's head back and launched the evil Valkyrie backwards into the wall. "Dorra!"

Valeyrie hit the wall, and fell to the ground. Her axe hit the ground next to her, spun around, and fell. A trail of blood started to flow from her forehead, and another from her nose and mouth. Brandy hit the floor, and also collapsed, her breathing heavy. That last Super-Dash rush had taken almost everything out of her, but it had been worth it in order to beat Valeyrie. Yep. Totally worth it. Good thing Valeyrie was beaten, though. Just, she hadn't turned into Elixir yet. Brandy was sure she was about to, just about to, just about to-

Valeyrie trembled, and slowly stood up. "Frick.", whispered Brandy under her breath. So did Valeyrie, only she said a different word.

At this point, Brandy couldn't do a whole lot. Valeyrie had taken everything she had, and was even now still going. And Brandy knew she for sure could not take everything Valeyrie could dish out, especially with that axe.

"Well, well.", said Valeyrie. "It looks like you're all out of options."

Brandy slowly raised an arm to fight, but it fell. She could feel the last of her energy start to run out, and knew she had to conserve it. So she lay still, and let Valeyrie approach.

"This was a lot harder of a battle than I expected, but it looks like I'm still the winner.", Valeyrie said. "Too bad for you."

Then she did something Brandy did not expect. Of course, it was not the sort of Oh my, you're going to turn against your King and help me sort of thing, or Oh no, looks like you used the last of your energy too and so now you're going to collapse and I can make my escape sort of thing, either. No, it was something far different from that.

Valeyrie leapt onto Brandy, covering her much smaller frame, and leering right into her face. She slowly licked Brandy's cheek, her eyes becoming more bloodshot as she did so. "That…", she hissed, "is the taste of a loser, Brandy."

Brandy tried to say something. She wasn't sure what- just anything, really. But Valeyrie slapped a hand over her mouth. "Shh. Shh, Brandy. Don't say anything. You don't deserve to. But you will, once we fix you up. Yeah, we're gonna just wipe your mind a little bit, and then we'll get you all situated. Maybe give you a nice piercing or two, just right where it counts.

Then she jumped up, spun around, slammed her axe down into the ground, and slammed herself down onto Brandy's face. Brandy coughed from the surprising impact, but there was nowhere for the cough to go. Valeyrie covered Brandy's face completely. With a grunt, Valeyrie pushed Brandy's head further into the floor. "Come on. Take it, wimp!"

Brandy felt like her face was going to pop. The constant pressure as Valeyrie moved up and down beat a brutal tattoo on her skin, and the total lack of air wasn't helping, either. Brandy's hands scrabbled against the stone, trying to find something, anything, to use against Valeyrie, but there was nothing. And even as she tried, Brandy could feel her hand start to slow due to lack of oxygen. Soon, she wouldn't be able to move it at all. So after just a few seconds, Brandy stopped fighting.

Valeyrie stopped her assault as well. She peered over her shoulder, and saw Brandy's listless eyes shut as her hand rolled to one side. "Huh. Looks like the little twerp couldn't handle it. That's fine.", said Valeyrie, and got up. Brandy continued to not move.

Valeyrie chuckled, and took out her communicator. She selected the Camera function, and held it up in front of her, making sure Brandy's broken body was in the shot. Valeyrie made a V sign with her fingers, stuck out her tongue, and snapped a photo. Just totally owned some twerp, she wrote as the caption. I think someone wants to come and claim her, right? Any takers?

She chuckled in satisfaction as she sent the picture, then put away her communicator.

Brandy could feel her heart beat. She could hear the dull thud of the castle's rhythm, and her ears lay pressed against the floor. She could taste the dull, metallic blood in her mouth, and just barely see Valeyrie strutting in front of her camera, so proud of her victory.

Just like they had been. Exactly how Chad had behaved, and what Rick had done. In an instant, memories of the canyon filled her brain, every horrible moment etched into Brandy's vision. Yet, oddly, they did not scare her as much as they should have. They were the echoes of unspeakable torment, yet Brandy felt no fear. She could only feel the boiling throes of pure, abject, rage.

"You know what we're going to do now, Brandy?", Valeyrie asked, and of course she got no response. "We're gonna play a little game. It's called go to the park. Ever played that one?" Again, she got no answer.

"Yeah, it's where I put a collar on you and make you my bi-"

She almost finished her sentence, but stopped. Because Valeyrie saw, out of the corner of her eye, Brandy stir. She started to turn around, and Brandy's eyes opened. The stone around her broke in a circle, bits of dust flying into the air. Her eyes, normally a very light shade of blue, turned purple, a faint glow coming from somewhere within. She slammed her hand to the ground, and slowly pushed herself up. As she did so, particles of purple light rose around her, and if one were to look closely, they could see a faint vestige of a purple flame around her body.

Valeyrie took a slight step back. She had no idea what was going on. First Brandy had been utterly defeated, just a barely conscious heap lying on the floor, totally submitted to Valeyrie's will. Now, she stood again, surrounded by what looked like Rage. But that was impossible. Things like Bandits summoning Rage out of nowhere just didn't happen. They didn't. So until Valeyrie knew what was going on, she just decided to try and bluff her way out of this situation. She put her hands on her hips, and laughed.

"Well, Brandy. This I truly did not expect," she said with a heartless smile. "I didn't think you could possibly get up after I actually start to begin to try. Nice job."

She would have said more, but Brandy did not wait. With a ferocious roar born of pure hatred, Brandy Dashed, one fist outstretched, right at Valeyrie's head. Brandy's vision blurred, the sides of it turning to a tunnel, focusing only on her target, intent to split it to pieces. As she drew closer, all in the fraction between a second, Valeyrie raised her one hand in defense, and-

She caught it. Valeyrie caught the punch that Brandy had put everything into, and grinned. Granted, the sheer force of the blow pushed her back a little bit, and maybe strained her muscles some, but for the most part, Valeyrie had caught the attack with ease.

"Huh? Wha… no. No.", Brandy mumbled. "No." The purple aura surrounding her faded. She dropped to the ground, and Valeyrie pushed her further in. Whatever power Brandy had temporarily been gifted with left, and she fell to the floor. Valeyrie leaned in close, even closer than she had been before, and stared right into Brandy's eyes, a cruel look upon her face.

"You're cute, Brandy.", she said. "I like you."

In that instant, an idea formed inside of Brandy's mind. It was a remarkably stupid idea, and one that had practically no chance of working, but it was an idea nonetheless- and that was exactly what Brandy needed right now.

"Wait a minute.", she coughed out. "What you just said. That I'm cute, and that you like me."

Valeyrie slowly grabbed her axe, and spit to one side. "Yeah? What about it?"

"Well, you said all those things, and you licked my cheek, and you sat on my face.", said Brandy. "So Valeyrie, wouldn't that make you…"

Brandy's eyes lit up, and she managed to pull herself together just long enough to barely sit up. "Gay?"

Now, normally, that had absolutely no chance of working. Had it been any other troop but Valeyrie, they would have just laughed it off, and then finished Brandy off. But Valeyrie actually had had some trouble with that in the past. Until she had met and formed a relationship with Chad, everyone had just naturally thought she was into girls. She had always said that just because she preferred subjugating them over guys didn't mean anything, but no one had ever believed or listened to her. Now, once Brandy had reminded her of those "dark times", everything that Valeyrie had forgotten, every memory she had intentionally blocked out, came flooding back, and it was simply too much for her already tilted mind to take.

"No…", Valeyrie said, starting to shake. She unceremoniously dropped Brandy onto the ground, and her skin started to dissolve purple. "No!", she screamed, and briefly turned stone-grey for a moment before bursting into a shower of Elixir that covered Brandy's front and still managed to get most of the ground.

Brandy blinked. In all honesty, she hadn't known what was going to happen. Probably just a distraction, long enough for Brandy to escape, or maybe fight back. Probably nothing. Certainly not that. But it was a victory, in any case, and that was good enough for her. So Brandy, still hurting from wounds and bruises all over, lay down to just rest for a little bit.

As Brandy's labored breathing grew longer and slowly deeper, she could feel her eyes start to close. Perhaps she could rest here for a little while. Maybe fall asleep for a few hours, and then continue her escape again. Perhaps she could-

Brandy shook off the thought. No. She had to keep going. She was so close to the blessed outside, she could almost taste it. If Brandy stopped to rest now, she was sure that she would be caught. The entire castle had to be on high alert by now, and her fight with Valeyrie had left her utterly exhausted. At this point, Brandy probably couldn't even win a fight with a Dart Goblin. Even so, she decided to lay there for a few more seconds, eyes closed, back against the wall, arms slowly trickling blood, before she hoisted herself to her feet, and started back down the hallway.

She went in a sort of a half-run, half-hobble- her legs couldn't really handle anything else. She still felt the immense pain of Valeyrie's savage beating, the dull aching throb issuing out from her stomach with every step. Her torn muscles ached, and she could feel the wet trail of blood in various parts of her. A palpable chill ran down the length of her body, and she shivered.

But she had won. Brandy, despite such overpowering odds, had won. She had fought her way through everything that had been thrown at her, and she had won. A Barbarian, a Musketeer, a Hog Rider, a Bandit, a Baby Dragon, a Prince, a Valkyrie- she had managed to overcome all of them, one way or another. Her spirit lifted, and her heart swelled with hope, as it beat ever faster. And then, she saw something. A door hung slightly ajar, moonlight streaming through. And Brandy could just barely manage to see the blessed sight of grass just beyond. She had found the way out.

There was nothing between her and the door. Absolutely nothing at all. No traps, no Troops, no hallways, no false doors, nothing but a pure, blessed, clear path to the outside. So Brandy wasted no time. She took one long, ragged step, then another, and another. Almost to the door. Just 15 more feet. 13 more feet. 11 more feet. 9 more feet. 7 more feet. 5 more. 3 more. 1 more foot to freedom.

Brandy pushed the last of her energy reserves through her exhausted body, and-

Dan expelled all the air that was within him, pushing his lungs to the very limit of emptiness. His mind followed suit, ready to learn more of Bowza's teachings.

"Good, Dan, good.", Bowza said firmly. "Now breath in. Fill your lungs with the blessed air of The Star."

Dan did so, arching his back as his lungs filled to full capacity.
"Excellent. Now take the latent energy that you have gathered, and concentrate it in your arm."

Dan could feel the tingle of some mysterious force exit his lungs, and gather in the muscles of his shoulder. He pushed the sensation downwards, through his arm, into his tightly clenched fist, and then further onto the blade of his sword. As he did so, a soft silver and gold light appeared around the steel, sparking with raw power.

"Good.", Bowza smiled. "Now strike with the power of The Star, and with your overdrive of strength you now wield. Be sure to say something while you do it."

"Like this?", Dan asked, and swung his sword downward into the ground. "Shining Silver Overdrive!"

The ground burst open in a sudden explosion at the force of the blow, chunks of grass and dirt flying in all directions. Dan recoiled and stumbled a few steps backwards from the sheer force of his own attack, covering his face with his other hand. Flecks and spirals of golden light sparked through the ground, heading away from the impact point before disappearing.

Bowza slapped a hand on Dan's shoulder, his eyes twinkling while his smile slightly grew. "That, Dan, will do nicely."

As Brandy leapt out into the cool night air, she felt like shouting for joy. She felt like dancing, or breaking out in song. But most of all, she felt like running home, burying herself in her room, and not coming out for several days, then spending as much time as possible with everyone she knew. Especially Dan. Especially him, the perfect friend. When she got home- she silently rejoiced in the fact that it was no longer just an if, but a perfect, glorious when- she would never complain about anything again. She would embrace life with a passion that she would never let go of, and never lose.

But as excited as she was, Brandy didn't get to do any of those things. Because as soon as she leapt out into that cool night air, and thought about all those things, a ghostly, immaterial hand fastened around her throat and pulled her back inside, the door closing with the tormented peals of a funeral bell.

Song: Unwinnable Battle

Brandy felt herself get yanked away from the door, and away from her freedom. The door suddenly closed in front of her, and she was thrown back onto the cold stone floor into a prone position. She rolled violently, the blunt force aggravating her already aching body. She noticed a cold trickle of blood begin to fall from her forehead- she must have cut her head during the fall. Brandy looked around, but could see no one, or nothing that could have done this. She felt only a chill in the air, and a haunting sort of presence around her.

She tried to gather her strength, what little of it she had left, and Dash out the door, but she could not. The fights had just taken too much out of her, and Dashing was currently out of the question. So she just took another step towards the door- and felt a hard chop directly to the neck and a blow to the chest that knocked her back onto the ground. She groaned, and her eyes started to involuntarily close. Brandy realized that she might actually die right here.

But she had to keep going. She didn't know what it was that was doing these things, but none of that would matter once she was outside. Once she was outside, everything would stop. Everything would end, and she could go home. That is what spun in her mind.

So she pulled herself to her feet, ignoring the heavy damage that practically every part of her had taken, and took one single step.

In an instant, a ghostly hand fastened around her throat, lifting her off the ground and into the air. She gasped, and the air flew from her lungs. The hand squeezed tighter, and Brandy raised her hand in a fist. She tried to beat on whatever was holding her, but her blows were weak and ineffectual. She had simply exerted herself too much, and now she was paying the price.

Brandy's face started to turn red, even as her limbs started to turn white. Her arm dropped, seemingly of its own accord, and she could see the hand appear in front of her. It was covered in chainmail, much like the hand of a Knight or Prince, but it gave off an ethereal red glow. The hand expanded into an arm, then a shoulder. And then, once the head revealed itself, Brandy realized just what she was up against. For she found herself staring directly into the dead, lifeless eyes of a Royal Ghost.

Gratefully, inexplicably, he let go of Brandy's throat, and dropped her onto the ground. She coughed, and inhaled a deep breath of blessed oxygen. She breathed for a few seconds, the Royal Ghost just floating in front of her for some reason.

"Come on, you wanna fight?", she mumbled. "Let's go. I can take you on."

Brandy knew without a doubt that this Royal Ghost truly was the last obstacle. For real this time. If she won right here, she would have earned her freedom. After being denied it so suddenly, she was now ready for round two.

The Royal Ghost simply sighed. "Sitten putoat.", he said, and vanished again.

Brandy took what was supposed to be a calculated shot to the neck, but instead turned into a wild swing that left her stumbling across the floor. She almost fell to the ground, but managed to right herself just in time. She spun around, and struck out randomly into the air.

The Royal Ghost suddenly became visible again, clutching his eye. Brandy's fist had, against all odds, somehow found its mark. But the menacing spirit wasn't disabled for long. With one swift movement, he moved forward and grabbed Brandy's forearm, bringing it up high.

"Tama paattyy.", he whispered, and brought Brandy's arm down onto his knee with all the force he could muster.

There was a sharp crack. Brandy could hear it, even before she felt the pain. But when she felt it, she felt it. A wave of red-hot, searing agony quickly radiated outward from the Royal Ghost's attack, and Brandy's arm fell useless by her side. She knew it had been broken. Brandy barely even had time to gasp in pain before the Royal Ghost planted his knee in her back, sending her sprawling again across the floor.

For several long seconds, she lay there. Brandy wasn't sure if she was even going to live or not. The pain kept on growing worse, and her previous injuries hurt only worse. She thought about just giving up now, and letting her soul drift away. But she knew, deep down, that that was simply not an option. She had to win here. She had to survive. And Brandy had to get back home. There was simply no other option.

Pure determination flashed through her, and with it, a spark of energy. She definitely raised one fist into the air, and somehow gave a slow chuckle. "Is that… all you got?", she whispered, although she tried to shout. Her lungs were damaged just as badly as the rest of her. "Come on, Ghost. I've fought harder things than you in… in… my sleep."

She shakily pointed one finger at the evil figure. "And I swear I will beat you, and get out of here. Or my name's not Brandy the Bandit!"

The Royal Ghost's eyes narrowed. "Ei.", he said. "Nimesi ei ole bändi Brandy. Se ei ole kukaan, orja."

He lunged forward, and grabbed her foot. Without even a grunt, the Royal Ghost tossed her up into the air. Brandy spun, her eyesight blurring from the motion and the pain, and then she fell back down again right into the Ghost's other hand. He caught her broken arm, and spun her around his head. The pain, already nightmarish in scope, increased exponentially as the fragments of bone in Brandy's arm were crushed into powder by the friction. She screamed instinctively, even knowing that it would alert dozens of enemies.

Then, the Royal Ghost grabbed her leg, stopping her spinning, and looked her straight in the eye. His piercing gaze seemed to penetrate all the way deep into Brandy's soul. "Se on ohi.", he said. "Olet kadottanut."

And with that, the Royal Ghost swung Brandy over his head one last time, and dashed her against the solid rock of the floor.

There was another loud crack, and a flash of red seared through Brandy's mind. She could see it just as clearly as she could feel it- one of her ribs had been shattered to bits. The pain of two crushed bones was unbelievably intense. Brandy fought to maintain consciousness, hoping against hope that she could still somehow make it out of such an impossible situation. She tried to get up, but the most that Brandy could achieve was to flip herself over onto her back. And even that very nearly finished her off.

But then, she saw the worst sight she could imagine. The sight of a now oddly familiar pair of dark red boots. And another, next to it, very nearly the same make and model. She moaned, and tried to cover her eyes with her arm. But one arm was shattered to pieces and the other wouldn't respond- it was a hopeless struggle. So she could do absolutely nothing as Ryusei_Nakao69 leaned over her broken body, and smiled directly in her face.

"Hello, Miss Brandy.", he said. "I do hope you're feeling alright."

George slapped his knee, throwing his sword onto the ground. He leaned his head back against the brick wall, and groaned. "Man, where even is Bailey?", he moaned.

He and the rest of his brothers had followed Brandy's summons as quickly as they could, never even suspecting that it wasn't actually Bailey who had sent the message. So they were just waiting in front of her room, expecting something that might never arrive.

"I don't know.", said Phil. "Maybe she got lost."

"Got lost?", said George. "How?"

Phil shrugged. "It's a big castle."

"Yeah, but Bailey can find her way around.", George said. "She's smart."

Ed looked up from sharpening his sword, and startled as he saw who was at the end of the hallway. "You guys! Look! There she is!"

Bailey limped down the hall, still holding her aching stomach. Even after she had reformed, the colossal might of Brandy's blow still left a phantom pain. And Bailey wanted nothing more at the moment than to just crawl into her bed and sleep for a bit- 1, 2, maybe 16 hours. So when she saw 5 Barbarians all waiting for her at the entrance to her room, it surprised her a little bit.

"George?", she wheezed. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, I, you, I mean-", George started, then stopped. "You're the one that wanted us to come here."

"What?", Bailey said, bewildered. "I never…"

"But look!", said George, worried he might lose this opportunity. "I have the message right here!"

He dug his communicator out of his pocket, called up the appropriate conversation, and showed it to a confused Bailey. She read it, looked up into the faces of the eager Barbarians, then read it again. She sighed a bit, internally.

Brandy must have written this, she thought. I knew she didn't just take my communicator just to steal it. She took it to steal it and to sneak her way past these guys. Well, I guess I need to somehow break it to these guys that I'm not going to-

Then a thought occurred to her. The only thing that she had really wanted was to climb into bed. So really, when it came right down to it, what exactly was the difference between getting into bed by herself and getting into bed with 5 guys? It would probably be pretty fun. Probably distract her from the pain, too. Definitely, in fact. Very fun, indeed...

Bailey managed to crack a grin, and looked slyly into George's eyes. "George, I didn't send that message."

George's face fell. "Oh, you didn't? But- but- but I- we-"

She pressed a finger across his lips. "Shh…", she said, almost giggling. "Don't say anything yet. Just hold on."

Bailey licked her hand seductively, and grabbed the doorknob. "No, I didn't send that message. But now that I think about it, it might just be exactly what I need."

And with that, she walked into her door, and all the Barbarians followed her inside.

Song: Dark Rebirth

Brandy felt like she was going to die. Her ferocious fighting spirit had all but left her, stamped out by the overwhelming assault of the Royal Ghost. Without it, Brandy could feel the strange tingling sensation of her fingertips slowly starting to turn into Elixir.

She closed her eyes, and tried to fight it, but the pain was too strong. Brandy could feel the tingling spread from her fingertips, to her palms- and then it stopped.

Brandy opened her eyes again, and saw a soft golden light dripping onto her chest. She followed the stream upwards, seeing that it came from a Heal Spell held by Ryusei_Nakao69.

The magic of the Heal started to knit her wounds shut, and heal her broken bones. There was a brief flash of red pain in her arm as the bone powder solidified, and then it was gone. Brandy experimentally moved her arm- it worked, just as it had before.

She felt theSenate pull her to her feet, and heard the empty bottle being cast aside into a recycle bin built into the walls.

Brandy blinked, and rubbed her eyes. The image of the two Kings in front of her slowly came into view, as well as Valeyrie and Kurizas standing behind them. Valeyrie looked furious, and Kurizas only looked a bit confused.

"What… why?", Brandy mumbled. "Why are you helping me?"

Ryusei_Nakao69 smiled warmly. "It looked like you were in rather bad shape. I'm sorry if Morgan was a little too hard on you, I really am. I just don't want anything to happen to your body. Your mind, I don't care about all that much."

"Of course.", Brandy said. She took note of her surroundings. Valeyrie and Kurizas could both easily stop her, but they were behind Ryusei_Nakao69, not in a good spot to attack from. Morgan floated behind him as well.

"Morgan, thank you for your help.", said Ryusei_Nakao69 with a wave of his hand. "You are dismissed."

"Kiitos, heranni.", said Morgan, and turned invisible once more. Brandy could no longer see him, but she could detect the dust of the hallway floor stir as he floated away. Well, that was one problem taken care of.

"Alright, theSenate.", said Ryusei_Nakao69. "I can take her from here. And might I add- it's been a pleasure hunting her with you. We haven't done that for ages."

theSenate stepped closer, still not letting go of Brandy. "Agreed, old friend."

The two shook hands. And in that moment, theSenate temporarily let go of Brandy's shoulder.

Brandy didn't wait even a full second. She immediately charged up her Dash, and aimed for the door. With all or at least most of her strength restored by the Heal, busting through it would be no problem. Valeyrie was the first to notice. She tried to stretch out a hand to catch Brandy- but she was too fast.

Brandy Dashed away from the two Kings, still engrossed in conversation, and hit the door to the outside. The ancient wood splintered and gave way, and finally burst open in a shower of broken metal and rotting lumber. Brandy burst forth into the cool night air- and hit a wall.

Brandy fell backwards onto her back. Her mind tried to wrap its way around what had just happened. She had ran outside, then hit a wall where there wasn't one. Was there an invisible wall? Had Ryusei_Nakao69 gained some Shield technology? Brandy wasn't sure, but she knew she had to break through. So she stood up, once more.

Ryusei_Nakao69 appeared in the doorway. "Ah, miss Brandy. I see you've discovered our interior courtyard."

Brandy turned around. "What?"

The King gave a low chuckle. "Oh, come now. Did you really think that you had come even close to escaping? No. You never even got anywhere near to the outside. We knew where you were all along."

"You… you did?"

"Yes, of course. Why else do you think nobody tried to stop you, even in the midst of battle? We were merely using your escape attempt to calibrate our systems against better ones. So I suppose I have to thank you, Brandy. You were most helpful to me."

Deep inside of her, Brandy felt something break at his words. Something shattered, at this new knowledge. Some fighting spirit, wherever it was in her, fell at last to the truth. Ryusei_Nakao69 had planned all this from the very beginning. He had had complete control over her from the start.

Brandy collapsed to her knees, and stared at the floor. What could she do now, she wondered. Brandy searched her mind for any plan, any idea, and any way to get out of this. But even as she did, she knew that there was nothing. The feeling of Ryusei_Nakao69 grabbing her neck only reinforced that fact.

"Ah, it appears she's taken off her Power Suppressor.", said the King. "Kurizas, my boy, could you put on a new one? And make sure it's around her neck this time."

"Of course, father.", said the Prince, and began to grab a new one from the pouch on his belt. He approached Brandy while doing so, but was suddenly shoved aside by Valeyrie, sheer annoyance written on her face. She stomped over to Brandy, grabbed her by the cheeks, and held the defeated Bandit's face to her own.

"You trying to take Bailey's trademark, huh?", she growled, and grabbed the feather out of Brandy's hood. "Yeah, no."

She yanked it away, and spat on Brandy's face in disgust. "I'm taking this back where it belongs.", she muttered, and pulled out her communicator. "Let's see, where is she now?"

She typed a few words- where are you, bailey? I have your feather- , and waited for a response. Within seconds, she got one in the form of a picture- one that showed, in explicit detail, exactly what Bailey was up to at the moment. Valeyrie stared at the image for a few seconds, then put away her communicator and stared into the wall.

Brandy felt the Power Suppressor tighten around her neck as Kurizas snapped it into place, then turned it on. The Red light washed across her body, her eyes becoming a light shade of purple, and her skin slightly tingling. She felt the power to Dash once again leave her, and knew that there was no point in struggling anymore. It was over. She had lost.

Song: Irreversible Sadness

"Miss Brandy.", came the voice of Ryusei_Nakao69 from somewhere behind her. theSenate and Kurizas had already left, leaving the two completely alone. "Now that if appears you've truly given up, I have a special job for you."

"What?", she replied, so quietly she almost couldn't even be heard.

The King smiled. "The second day of the Clan party is almost upon us. I'm going to need you to be our main waitress. Do you think you're up for it?"

Brandy scowled, although no one could see it but her. "Forget it.", she said, pure anger tainting the edges of her voice.

"Oh, don't be like that.", he said, and started to walk behind her. "I think you'll quite take a liking to it. Waiting tables is an honorable first position as a slave."

"I'm not your slave.", she growled, still refusing to look behind her, choosing only to stare into the cold, hard, ground.

"Oh, miss Brandy.", the King said. "Don't say things like that. You are, and there is nothing you can do about it."

He leaned closer, and spoke directly into her ear. "In fact, by the time the Grand Feast is over, by the time the first light of dawn comes through the windows, you will be begging to be my slave willingly."

Each word he spoke was perfectly punctuated, separated from each other- but no less smooth and elegant. "I promise you that."

Brandy chose to say nothing.

"Or, if you like, you can simply spin The Wheel.", he said slyly. "Why don't you take a look."

He waved his fingers, and a red wooden wheel appeared out of the shadows as if by magic.

Brandy slightly tilted her head to look at what she was sure was some infernal contraption- but it was just a simple wheel, one that wouldn't look out of place at a festival or a carnival.

"Why don't you read those options out loud, miss Brandy.", said the King. "See if there's anything you like."

Brandy took in the words written all along the slices of the wheel, trying not to think of what they meant.

"Dragon Food. Deepest Dungeons. Experimentation. Body Swap. Elixicles. Free Use. The Machine.", she listed off, and went silent. Those options, whatever they meant, seemed worse. But then, she saw a very thin slice of the wheel at the bottom, painted white. Freedom, it read, in bright golden letters. Brandy's heart jumped, and her eyes widened.

"Ah, I see you've noticed the freedom option.", said Ryusei_Nakao69. "Yes, very rarely does anyone land on that one. But it does happen- lost many a fine Troop that way. I had to let them go."

"Re- really?", asked Brandy softly. "If I land on it, you'll actually let me go?"

"Yes.", said the King. "I swear on my very existence."

He gestured towards the wheel. "Now, would you care to spin?"

Brandy's heart raced. If she pulled this off, she would be out of here, no questions asked. She put a hand on the wheel, prepared herself to spin- and then, she stopped.

Is this really worth it?, she thought. All these options look even worse than what I have now, and Freedom's so small. Do I really want to do this?

As she was pondering, she saw something on the wheel that solidified her decision. A very small, simple, carving of a Knight. And she remembered- her Clan was still coming.

Brandy let her hand fall from the wheel without spinning, and she sighed. Ryusei_Nakao69 smiled. "Ah, you're willingly giving up your only chance at freedom. That's very good, Miss Brandy- we'll make a good slave of you yet."

He grabbed her roughly by the neck, and hoisted her up onto her feet. "Come now. Let's go get you ready."

And so it was that Brandy allowed herself to be led away, into the darkness. For even though she had been utterly beaten, she still held on to some phantom hope that her Clan would arrive.

Ratool slumped against the hallway just outside Bailey's room, and cracked a grin.

I can't believe I actually got Kidnap Squad 6 to make me their honorary 6th member, he thought. They just told me to wait here until they were ready for me…

He got up, tired of waiting.

"Well, if I'm going to be sitting around for 30 minutes, I've got nothing better to do.", he said to nobody in particular. "It looks like the best place to wait is…"

He sneaked over to the locked entrance to Bailey's room. "Right outside Bailey's door."

He looked around to see if no one was watching. Nobody was, so he leaned closer. "And if my eye just so happens to wander near the keyhole…"

He planted his eye right on the keyhole, and stared through. His heart almost ruptured as he saw exactly what was happening in the room, in full detail. Ratool couldn't believe his luck again- he had been waiting for a sight like this for years.

He withdrew, and crossed his arms across his chest. "Nice!"

A bush cracked, and fell. The leaves burned apart under a wave of golden light, and the entire plant turned into a shimmering Gem. Moments later, it was snatched up and hidden by a random Goblin in a place only they know.

Bowza nodded appreciatively. "Good, good. That's very good, Dan. You're definitely growing."

Dan turned to the Magic Archer, still slightly huffing from the exertion. "You think I'm ready to take him on?"
Bowza thought for a moment. "No, not yet. You see, there's still one more thing I have to teach you."

He got up, and twirled his bow. "You see, true mastery of The Star is not only energy use. For there is known to its disciples - myself included - a certain battle cry. One that will increase your strength exponentially, with every punch you throw."

Dan perked up. "Really? What is it?"

It took Bowza several seconds to respond. He was feeling even more terribly mysterious than normal today, and that was reflected in his behaviour. "The battle cry is… ora."

"...Ora?", Dan asked. "That's it?"

"Yes, but repeated.", said Bowza. "Over and over again, and said while you punch."

He gave a small gesture. "Go ahead, try it."

"Well, okay.", said Dan, and closed his eyes. He raised one fist behind him and breathed in, gathering the latent energy from the air and the sunlight within him. Finally, he concentrated it in his now-glowing fist, and opened his eyes. He selected his target- a large Stone just 3 feet away from him. An easy distance for his Star-enhanced limbs to cover.

"Ora!", Dan shouted, and punched. Once his fist hit the rock, there was a tremendous crack. A tiny fissure had appeared in the Stone with just one blow.

"Oraoraoraoraoraoraora!", Dan yelled, and continued his flurry of blows. Each felt even more powerful than the last, and his fists seemed to speed up as well. With each devastating punch Dan landed on his target, the hard Stone split and fractured. Within mere seconds of attacking, the Stone barely held together.

"Oraaa!", Dan roared, and gave one last, especially powerful blow. The rock shook at the force of it, and at last collapsed into a pile. The chunks of rock were absorbed into the ground, leaving behind only some small traces of rubble and another small pile of Gems, almost immediately snatched up by another Goblin. Or it might have been the same one- there wasn't really any way to tell with how fast he ran.

Dan stood there for a second. He looked at his armored fists, practically smoking.

All that came out of me?, he thought. Seriously?

He clenched his fist and looked up into the sky. Awesome!

Dan heard a slow clap behind him. He turned around, still heavily breathing, to see Bowza slowly applauding. "Very nice indeed, Dan.", he said. "I think you're ready."

An hour passed.

The door to Chloe's room slowly creaked open. A shaft of yellow light flew from the hall and crept across the floor, only slightly illuminating the young Princess's bed.

"Chloe?", came the impeccabley evil voice of Ryusei_Nakao69 from the hall. "It's time to wake up."

Chloe sat up in her bed. "I'm already awake, Daddy.", she said.

Ryusei_Nakao69 entered the room, and drew closer to Chloe. "Ah, so you are. What kept you awake?"

Chloe drew her knees to her chest. "I don't know. What happened last night, I guess."

"What happened last night?", the King asked. "Why, what happ- oh. Right. You're thinking about Brandy, aren't you?"

"Yes.", Chloe admitted. "I thought she was nice."

Ryusei_Nakao69 sighed deeply, and put his hand on Chloe's shoulder. "I know that's how she was acting. But in reality, things could not be any farther from the truth."

"What?", Chloe asked, and looked up into her father's eyes. "But- but-"

"I can see how you would be fooled by her clever pretense.", the King said. "But do you know what she did, once she managed to escape from your room?"
Chloe shook her head.

"I thought not. You really shouldn't be concerning yourself with these things, but I guess I have to tell you anyway. You know Bailey, right? And Ratool?"

Chloe nodded. "Yeah. They're my friends."

"Well, the very first thing Brandy did upon escaping was incapacitate Ratool, and steal his most prized possessions. Then, after knocking some random Musketeer unconscious and killing Vern, she killed Bailey. Then she killed Rex the Baby Dragon- you remember him, don't you? - and then even managed to kill Valeyrie. In the end, only Morgan could stop her murderous rampage."

Chloe's mouth dropped open in shock. "Oh.", she said. "I didn't know."

"Of course you didn't, Chloe.", said the King. "That's why I told you."

He got back up again, and turned to leave. "Now get ready. The feast is going to start soon."

"Already?", Chloe asked. "But it's early morning."

Ryusei_Nakao69 pulled at his collar, slightly nervously. "Yes, well… we rescheduled. Don't ask why."

He had almost left the room, and was about to close the door, when Chloe spoke up one last time. "Daddy?"

He turned. "Yes, Chloe?"

"I let her out. It was me that unlocked the door."

The King's face twisted slightly. Not enough for anyone to see, but twist it did. "I see.", he said, and left the room.

Another hour passed.

"Hold still, Brandy.", grunted a Dark Prince. "Just hold still."

"I am holding still.", said Brandy quietly. Her "training" - so called because most of it was just being yelled at by an increasingly frustrated Dark Prince - had taken several hours, and had also taken a lot out of her. It was only slightly her fault that the Dark Prince was frustrated with her. Actually, it was a lot her fault- she had been the one to manage to steal his shield while he was distracted, and sneak an ice cube down his armor without him noticing. She smiled internally- every little bit counted, when she was getting back at TheEvilOverLords.

"Well, hold still harder.", he growled, and continued to fumble with the name tag. "Ah! There we go!"

He finally managed to pin the tag on- it was rather hard with thick metal-covered fingers- and stood back to admire his handiwork. He also took a brief second to squeeze Brandy's chest, just because he could.

"Now remember.", he said. "You are only the waitress. You ask them what you want, and that's it. No mischief, no funny stuff, no anything. You got that?"

"Yes, I have it.", Brandy sighed. She visualized her ripping the Dark Prince's helmet off and spitting down his throat to help her restrain herself.

"Yes I have it, what?", he asked.

"I don't know.", Brandy said. "What?"

The Dark Prince's eyebrows furrowed. The action would have been easier to see, if he wasn't wearing a thick metal helmet. But he was, and so nobody noticed.

"Sir.", he barked. "You're supposed to say sir. And to any King or Princess, say Master and Mistress. Remember?"

"I remember…", Brandy said coldly, and spat out her words. "Sir."

The Dark Prince crossed his right arm across his chest. "Good. That's much better. Now get to the kitchen. You'll meet your partner."

He gave her a huge shove on the back, and Brandy stumbled. She caught herself just before she hit the ground, nearly scraping her hands in the process. She didn't look back, but she did scowl.

"Come on, get off of the floor.", the Dark Prince said one last time. "And just remember-"

The Dark Prince hissed his next words, trying to be as haunting as possible. "We already won."

Brandy opened a layer of doors- there certainly were a lot of them in the castle- and saw a bustling kitchen. It was mostly staffed with Goblins and Skeletons, although there were a few other Troops.

A chaos of Goblins stabbed a large slab of meat over and over, under the pretense of "tenderizing" it. A yard of Skeletons danced on bars over an immense vat of pasta, each kick of their bony feet spreading more cheese across the mixture. A small team of Villagers worked on cutting boards, slicing vegetables into tiny pieces and tossing them up into the air. Every chunk was almost immediately grabbed by a Bat or a Minion, and dropped onto a plate. There were several Builders hard at work, busy upgrading various kitchen equipment. Above it all, almost obnoxiously loud rock music blasted from apparently hidden speakers, and a mysterious individual stood at the front of the room, delicately preparing a single meal.

Even if this Clan was practically the epitome of evil, Brandy almost admired their efficiency. Despite the apparent chaos, things all seemed to be in order. And she was almost glad she had been selected for the food team, instead of some other job.

"Hey, Max, she's here.", grunted a Villager, and jerked her head to indicate Brandy.

"Thank you, Trisha.", said the mysterious figure kindly. "Gorge, bring her here."

A Builder nodded. "Okay, sir. I will."

He stuck out a hand towards Brandy, inviting her to follow. She shook her head. "I can find my way myself, thank you."

She made her way to the figure, dodging a giant pot swung haphazardly overhead by a flying Mega Minion, and just managing to step her way over a sprinting trio of Fire Spirits. They were chased by a long, armored creature, legs sticking out of it every few inches. It chittered softly as it went. Brandy thought it just looked… unnatural.

But she at last arrived at the figure, and placed her hands on the counter. "Alright, I'm here. What do you want?"

The figure turned to her, revealing a pale, young looking face. He had a shock of blond, unkept hair, and a kind look in his eyes. Brandy had never seen anyone, or anything, that looked like him before.

"Pardon me,", Brandy asked almost timidly, "but what are you? I've never seen anything like you before."

He smiled. "Oh yes- I haven't introduced myself yet, have I?"

He stuck out a hand, and Brandy slowly shook it. "You see, my name is Maximillion, but you can just call me Max. I'm the Senior Chef around here, cook meals for all the top Troops and Kings. And I was also a Dark Prince."

"A… Dark Prince?", Brandy asked. "Then where's your helmet?"

"Oh, they took it away.", Max said. "LeChris personally was curious to see what a Dark Prince looks like without his helmet- did you know he doesn't actually have one?"
"No…", said Brandy.

"Yeah, he actually doesn't.", Max continued. "I guess I just kind of know useless stuff like that."

He returned to preparing the food, mixing a glass of red wine with a mysterious, slightly glowing substance. It appeared to be some form of Elixir, but Brandy had never seen Elixir like it before. It was thick, and poured with the consistency of barbecue sauce. It was a dark red, and almost appeared to be slightly glowing.

"So, you're our new waitress?"

"Yeah, I guess I am.", Brandy admitted. "But don't get the wrong idea. I'm not here for long. My Clan's coming to get me in just a few hours."

Max sliced a carrot in half and pushed it to the side. "Oh, yeah. That's what they all say. What I said, too. When they caught me, I thought my Clan would come and save me."

"What… what happened?", Brandy asked, not entirely sure if she wanted to know the answer.

"They did come.", Max said. "But they didn't stand a chance. TheEvilOverLords are used to this sort of thing- my clan was all killed within minutes."

Brandy felt her throat catch a bit. "Well… that's not gonna happen with me. You'll see."

"And that's exactly what I thought.", said Max, and gestured behind him. "Yo Rex, get me another bottle of BE."

A Builder tossed Max another bottle of the strange red substance, and Max stirred it into a thick white mixture. "But to be honest, I'm fine with working here. I never did like the battling- it was too much stress. Too much noise. I like cooking more."

"But Max…", Brandy said. "Don't you miss it? Don't you miss the thrill of it? The roar of the crowds? The rush of battle? The excitement of winning?"

She slammed her hands down onto the counter, and looked into his eyes. "Don't you miss that at all? How are you okay with this?"

Max calmly wiped down a knife with a damp cloth, then tossed it onto a plate. He looked downwards, purposely avoiding Brandy's gaze. "No. No, I don't, and I'm perfectly fine with it. Now go deliver these."

He handed Brandy a huge tray, with several dishes loaded onto it. "They say who they're going to on each one. And don't worry, you'll know who's who."

He gave her one last look before Brandy headed out the door. "And good luck out there. You'll need it."

Brandy, struggling a bit under the weight of the tray, turned to leave. Max watched her go. He did indeed genuinely enjoy cooking here, but what she said gave him just a little bit of pause.

"Hey, Max.", said a Builder. "You stopped cooking. You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Rex.", said Max. "Just a little thinking."

A leaf crunched underfoot, the weight of Dan's foot pressing down onto it. He looked up, trying to make out the distance shapes through the treeline. The light of dawn showed hints of beginning to creep over the horizon.

"What do you see, Dan?", asked Agatha. "Anything?"

Dan frowned. "No, not anything yet. It looks like we've still got a while to go until we- huh?"

He had stepped on something odd. He leaned down, and plucked the strange object off of the ground. It was a small rectangle, covered with dirt. He held it up, and wiped the dirt off of its surface- to reveal a Card.

The small plastic rectangle was tinted orange, and a display of an Ice Golem was mounted somewhere within. Dan watched the light catch it, seeing patterns swirl around.

Brandy would have loved to find this, he thought. She would have loved to steal it.

He mentally chided himself for using such language in his thoughts. He couldn't think of Brandy in the past tense like that. Agatha could tell she was still alive, with her special Witch-type magic, or something. Dan didn't really understand any of it, but he did know that Brandy was still alive- no, is still alive. No, wait. Was actually was more grammatically appropriate.

But to Dan, keeping a positive mindset on the state of his best friend was far more important than proper mental grammar. Is it was, then.

He tucked the Card into his pocket to give to Brandy later, and looked up.

"Never mind.", he said. "We've got to be close."

Brandy swung open the heavy double doors to the Grand Ballroom, the rich crimson velvet glinting in the light of the massive overhead chandelier. As soon as she entered the immense room, Brandy could feel it.

A weighty sense of pure opulessence covered the room like a choking mold, and the red light only added to the sensation. Brandy could smell the raw evil, and taste the darkness. She could see the pride and lust that permeated the atmosphere, and feel the overwhelming corruption the entire Clan was doused in.

A Valkyrie pole-danced against a far wall. Overwhelmingly loud, aggressive-sounding music echoed as she spun around the metal pole, gazing into the audience of Barbarians with a look of false longing. She turned to face the wall, and backstage, then tore her top off and threw it into the cheering crowd. She rotated her head, blew a kiss, then strutted offstage.

Multiple gangs of Goblins crowded around a betting table, half or all drunk on tons of Elixir. A Goblin Brawler sat in the middle, shuffling betting chips from one hand to the other.

"I bet 500 Gold on the red!", shouted a Goblin, slurring his words. "And I want the Archer!"

"Hey, no fair!", moaned another. "I wanted her!"

The two erupted into a fistfight, right in front of the terrified Archer. She was tied to a board, behind the Goblin Brawler. She had been Kidnap Squad 6's next target, after Brandy.

That was how it worked, for the Clan. As soon as one target was stolen, another was chosen. And even though Brandy had been a struggle, they had subdued her. Just as they had subdued everyone. She wasn't anything special, to most of them. Just another job, in an endless series.

Brandy turned her head from these proceedings, and looked instead at her first delivery. It was a huge barbecue platter, set to be delivered to Kidnap Squad 8. Okay, then. It also said that they were a group of Sneaky Archers, usually found sitting at Table 68. Fortunately, that just so happened to be right next to Brandy.

Wordlessly, she took the plate off of the tray, and placed it on the table. One of the Sneaky Archers took notice, and looked up, but nothing more. Merely a raised eyebrow, and a slight movement of the hand. Brandy didn't stick around to see if they would take it or not- she just walked away, and looked at her next assignment.

This one was for a Mega Knight and a Royal Giant, that were supposed to be sitting at Table 17. Brandy didn't fancy walking all the way there, but she supposed she had no choice.

A figure sitting at a table across the room took a sip of his tea, and peered over the edge of his newspaper. His snow-blue, piercing eyes took in Brandy, and he read her plight. He knew he could only help her a little bit for now, but a little bit for him could be quite a lot.

He flicked his finger, and space contracted. With one step, Brandy felt the world fall around her. There was a roar in her ears, a snap of feeling against her skin, and then she was at the other edge of the room, right on Table 17.

Brandy looked over herself. What was that?, she wondered. It felt almost like a Dash, but… wasn't. I definitely did not do that.

But, seeing no good explanation, she just chalked it up to some sort of experiment, and moved on. She had a table to serve.

There sat a Mega Knight and a Royal Giant, just like the card had promised. The Royal Giant seemed utterly engrossed with himself, staring deeply into a handheld mirror and murmuring things Brandy couldn't quite hear.

The Mega Knight, on the other hand, wasn't doing anything. Or saying anything, or even really looking at anything. He just stared straight ahead, seemingly lost in thought. Brandy could feel the power coming from him. It felt almost unnatural, a very menacing aura.

"Uh, sirs?", Brandy squeaked. "Here are your dinners that you ordered."

She waited a few seconds for an answer, but none came. Neither of them spoke, looked at her, or even really acknowledged that Brandy was there. So she just slid the huge plate of steak and fish onto the table, and looked up.

A Goblin tapped her on the shoulder, and Brandy turned. "Just leave it.", he said, as he chewed loudly on both some barbecue wings and gum. At the same time. "They're never gonna hear you."

"Uh, okay.", Brandy said. "Well, that's that, I gue-"

She started to return to the kitchen, but a Royal Recruit blocked her way.

"Waitress, you need to take orders now.", he said. "Not just bring food. There is a pen and paper tucked into your pockets- I believe they will prove most useful."

Meg stabbed her spaghetti with her fork, swirling it around on her plate. The red sauce glistened in the bright lights shining from overhead, lit by a hundred Teslas.

"Hey Meg, I'm gonna sit here.", came a voice from in front of her, on the other end of the table. "That alright with you?"

Meg looked up in shock. As long as she had lived, almost a week now, nobody had ever asked to sit with her before. "Wha-"

"Okay then, guess it's alright.", said Bailey, as she sat down. She held a plate full of antipasto, the rich red and green colors matching her uniform. She withdrew a special Gold-plated fork from her sleeve and began to eat.

"Isn't that fork Daniel's?", Meg asked, referring to a Prince. "Where did you get that?"

"Stole it.", said Bailey through a mouthful of food, then swallowed. "What did you think?"

"Oh.", said Meg. "So, why did you sit here?"

"I don't know. Just thought I should. You seem pretty lonely."

"Oh.", said Meg again, then took another look at Bailey. "Are you alright, Bailey? You seem a little off. You know, if- if you don't mind me asking."

"No, no, I'm fi-", Bailey started, then stopped. "No. You know what- I'm not fine. I always pretend I am, but I'm not."

She stiffened in her chair, and pushed her plate to one side, side-arming in the face a Goblin that tried to steal it. "You know something, Meg? Can I tell you something?"

"Uh, sure, I guess?", Meg said. "I mean, no one's ever really as-"

Bailey ignored her, and kept on talking. "I just feel bad about it, you know? The prisoners. Stopping them, I mean. Like, they all escape, and I stop them almost every time, but I just feel worse and worse about it each time. They always look so desperate- these last few times have been really getting to me."

Meg slowly put another forkful of pasta into her mouth. "I… guess I know what you mean. I- I- I almost- I mean-"

"Just spit it out, Meg.", said Bailey. "Come on, you can do it."

Meg shook her head, and started again. "I mean, everyone always says that the best thing to do is what your King says, but… well…"

Meg looked up. "Can I tell you a secret?"

Bailey nodded, and leaned closer over the tables. Meg drew close to the Bandit's ear, and opened her mouth to speak.

"I don't want to be Red anymore.", Meg whispered, and Bailey drew back in shock.

"Meg… what are you saying?", Bailey hissed. "Here I am just not wanting to be as cruel anymore, and then here you are plotting… well… plotting full on betrayal!"

Meg leaned back in her chair, and spread her hands out. "Woah, not betrayal, no. Just maybe I could sneak away, and maybe go join a Blue King. You know, maybe. With a capital M."

Bailey massaged her forehead. "Meg, that is full on betrayal! You can't just-"

There was a cough from somewhere behind them. Bailey stopped talking, and looked up. "Okay, to be continued."

To her mild surprise, she saw Brandy standing there, pen and paper in hand.

"Good morning.", she said sadly. "Is there anything I can get you?"

"Oh, no,", began Meg. "Sorry, but we just ate-"

Bailey waved her hand to silence her, and Meg dutifully obeyed the gesture. "Hold on. I want to talk with Brandy for a bit."

Bailey looked up at Brandy. "So. You seem pretty capable."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that.", Brandy said quietly.

Bailey leaned back a bit in surprise. The last time she had seen Brandy was just after she had beaten Bailey in single combat. She had managed to overcome the level difference, merely through pure skill and talent. Bailey knew it was possible, but she hadn't expected it to happen to her.

"What are you talking about?", Bailey said. "You're strong."

She motioned for Brandy to lean closer, and she did so. "In fact, I have a little offer for you. I'm putting together a little strike force- one to rob places all around the world. Not just the Royale Islands- I'm talking the Hay Day Farms, the Boom Beaches- everywhere. After the dinner, we can recruit you. What do you say?"

Brandy just shook her head sadly. "No. I can't."

"No?", Bailey said. "What do you mean, no? I'm giving you the offer of a lifetime, and you're throwing it away?"
"I'm sorry,", Brandy said, "but it seems your group is only for exceptional people. And I'm not exceptional. I'm nothing. I'm nobody."

Brandy left the table, leaving Bailey in a state of confusion and almost fear. Brandy had been such a proud, strong-willed warrior when they last fought. Bailey shuddered just thinking about what had been done to her to reduce her to such a willing servant.

But in fact, nothing had been done. Brandy still fought on, silently. She had come up with a plan- one to make everyone think she had been broken. But once the time was right, she would strike. She would strike, and bring down the whole Clan at once. All it would take was one single, precise, perfect blow.

But for now, there was still the dinner to attend to. And part of that dinner was taking the orders of a table of Bowlers.

"Good morning, sirs.", Brandy said. "Very early morning. What would you like?"

A Bowler looked up from staring into nothing long enough to take in Brandy. Even though his eyesight was blurred and his mind even more so, he could still comprehend Brandy as a waitress.

"Yeah, can I get a… a… uhhhh...", the Bowler said, struggling to remain consciousness. He had had a very long night, and the massive amounts of Dark Elixir he had already drunk didn't help. "Boneless Dark Elixir?"

"Oh, shut up Jobe.", said one of the others, and slapped the table. "You're drunk."

Jobe, Jobe… where have I heard that name before?, Brandy wondered, then suddenly remembered. Jobe was the name of Webert's clone!

She took a closer look at the huge Bowler draped across the table- sure enough, he had a pale blue tint to his skin and a magnificent beard. This was her friend.

"Is your food already coming?", she asked him, hoping he was lucid enough to get her hint. "If so, when will it arrive?"

Fortunately, Webert was mostly faking his drunkenness, and he understood Brandy's message almost immediately. "Oh, it's coming alright.", he said, and gave a big fat blue wink. "Probably just around 15 minutes before it gets here."

Brandy's heart jumped in her chest. 15 minutes? That was hardly any time at all! Just a bit more stalling, and then she would be out of here! But she contained her excitement, and politely bowed to Webert. "Alright, sir.", she said. "Thank you for the information."

Ryusei_Nakao69 pulled back his chair with a long screech, and sat down. He groaned as his old, tired legs were finally allowed to rest, and leveled his gaze to peer out on the entire room at once. He smiled in satisfaction.

All of his plans for that day were complete. Brandy had finally been subdued, the Clan Party was going off without a hitch, he had just gotten a Mega Lightning Chest that morning, and his benefactor wasn't expecting payment for a few weeks. Yes indeed, life was good to him.

Chloe sat down next to him, followed by Veronica and Stacy. The two older Princesses cast a slight look of disgust at their younger sister- even more so than the look of revulsion they wore pretty much all the time.

Ryusei_Nakao69 clapped his hands, and a Barley appeared as if by magic. It wasn't his, of course- it had been stolen. Right from the closet where it had been sleeping, deep in the heart of the Brawl Desert. He was quite proud of that job, seeing as it was one he had actually done himself. Once the Barley was captured, it had been a simple matter to reprogram it. It already wanted to serve by instinct- it was just a matter of telling it who to do so to.

"Your wine list is ready, sire.", said the Barley in a clean, proper voice, only slightly ringing of its metallic origins. "Shall I show you?"

"Yes.", said the King. "That would be lovely."

"Excellent.", said the Barley. "Here it is."

He unfurled an old-looking scroll from his hand, and let it roll across the table. Ryusei_Nakao69, without even looking, picked one at random. Truth be told, he didn't care much for wine. He would much rather just drink a simple soda- but he did have appearances to keep up. So wine it was.

"Ah, the Crimson Heart Wine.", said the Barley. "That one's hard to beat."

The robot laughed internally at his own joke, then turned to address Chloe. "And what would you like, young miss?"

"I wanna 3-Crown Cola.", she said.

"What flavor?", the Barley responded.

"Um...Blueberry Bandit.", Chloe said.

If one were to look closely, they could have seen Ryusei_Nakao69's and Veronica's face slightly twitch in unison.

The Barley dispensed a small can, and Chloe eagerly reached for it. But before she could pop it open, a huge form slammed into the seat beside her, almost causing her to drop the can onto the floor.

"Sorry I'm late.", said Chad, and leaned back. "I was, uh, doing stuff."

Valeyrie sat down in the seat next to him, and drew her finger across his shoulder. "I'm stuff."

"Wait, wha-", Chad started, but was interrupted by Rysuei_Nakao69's laugh. "Chad, your girlfriend is awesome."

The group's missing member, Rick, spun out a chair next to Valeyrie and sat down. In his hand was a single black envelope. "Mail's here."

"Really?", mused the King, and took it. "I wasn't expecting anything."

He sliced open the envelope with a small blade on one of his pointer fingers, and held the pitch-black paper up to the light. He didn't see anything at first, but upon tilting the paper back and forth, he was able to make out some shining letters.

Song: Un'altra Persona

Expect me, they read. Ryusei_Nakao69 felt a shiver run down his back.

He turned the letter over, and saw more letters seemingly appear out of nowhere. Expect me like you expect the sun to rise.

The King turned the letter over again, but saw nothing else. He was about to drop the letter onto the table, when he saw the surface of the letter stir. The sight was only for him- nobody else sitting at the table had any inkling it was happening.

He saw the paper twist into an evil-looking face, its glowing eyes staring directly into his.

So expect me, mortal, it said through spiked teeth, eyes bursting with flame with every syllable. I'm coming.

And then it was gone. Not just the face, but the entire letter. The envelope had vanished too.

Ryusei_Nakao69 thumped himself on the chest, and breathed out. "Well then.", he said under his breath. "I might have to hurry up."

"Daddy?", came the worried voice of Chloe. "What was that?"

"Yo, Dad.", said Stacy. "What was that thing all about?"

Ryusei_Nakao69 waved his hand to silence them. "Nothing. It was nobody. Which reminds me, I have to go speak to theSenate."

"How does that remind you-, Veronica started, but her father's piercing glare stopped her from finishing the sentence. But behind the regular authority, there was something she had never seen before. Fear. In the eyes of Ryusei_Nakao69, there was real fear.

"Good morning, sir.", said Brandy. "What would you like?"

"Oh, I'll have the Triple Elixir platter. And the Spell Valley special.", said the Hog Rider she was talking to. Mercifully, it was a different one than the one she had fought earlier. Brandy was pretty sure the Hog would attack her on sight- she would. and Baconator Jr. here will have the scraps.", he said, and petted his Hog. "And Baconator Jr. here will have the scraps."

"Understood. Will that be all?", Brandy asked.

"Yeah.", he smiled. "But don't forget the cheese."

Alrighty, Brandy thought. Guess I should report back to the kitchen now… if I should even bother. I mean, Clan's coming in 15 minutes. No, wait…

Brandy stopped right in the middle of the aisle. Webert said that, like, 15 minutes ago.

She looked at one of the clocks surrounding the walls. It had, in fact, been 14 minutes and 50 seconds since Webert had given her the time. Brandy's heart swelled. Only 10 more seconds. Only 9 more seconds. Only 8 more seconds. Only 7. Only 6. Only 5...4...3…

theSenate and LeChris looked up from their respective meals.

"Do you hear something?", theSenate said.

LeChris looked up, and frowned. "No.", he said. "Why?"

"Oh, just wondering. I do think I heard something.", theSenate said, and the two Kings went back to their meal.
2 more seconds, Brandy thought. 1 more second. And…

Nothing happened. Brandy looked around expectantly, but nobody appeared. No walls were demolished, no Clanmates swooped in to dish out justice. Brandy started to get a little worried.

"Where are they?", she whispered underneath her breath. "Why aren't they already here?"

Horrible possibilities flickered through her mind. Were they dead? Were they lost? Was Webert wildly off, and they wouldn't arrive for 15 more hours?

The worst one of all briefly flashed across Brandy's consciousness- that they were never even coming in the first place. That Brandy really was worthless to them, and Webert's Clone was only there on accident. That perhaps, nobody cared about Brandy, and that she really was destined to stay here.

But that thought died quickly, as Brandy remembered that Webert had said that it would be about 15 minutes before they got here. Not exactly. There was a little bit of margin of error. So in the meantime, it was to be that she reported back to the kitchen.

Brandy looked to the side of the room. She started to walk, then stopped. Because two tables down, there was a… a…

Brandy didn't know what he was. He didn't appear to be any sort of troop she knew of, and he certainly didn't look like a king, either. He wore a long brown leather coat, accented with various pockets of various sizes and light tan lines running down the seams. He was wearing a top hat over his light hair, which couldn't seem to make up its mind whether it wanted to be white, blond, or light brown. Two black gloves, much like Brandy's own, covered his hands. His face was worn and weathered, but he didn't seem old at all- the way he carried himself, he actually seemed quite young. A powerful, mysterious aura of sheer mystery surrounded him- Brandy could almost make out the shapes of flame dancing around his table. Upon seeing Brandy, he put down the immense book that he was reading, and turned to face her.

"Ah, Brandy.", he said. "There you are. I knew you would come around here eventually."

As soon as his voice his Brandy's ears, her heart glowed, just a little bit. He sounded bright, yet cool. Exhilarating, yet calming. He just felt… right.

Brandy didn't really know what to say to such an individual. "Um… can I get you anything? Sir?", wasn't quite right, but that's what slipped out.

"Oh, no.", he said softly. "I wouldn't want you to work any harder than you already are."

Brandy was quite taken aback by him. He seemed utterly calm here, despite the overwhelming evil. "Excuse me, but... who are you?", she asked, curious, and swallowed hard.

"That's not important right now.", he said, "Don't worry about it. He then lifted his hand, and seemed to address some unknown, unseen individual. "Charlie, put it on pause for a little bit, would you?"

Almost instantly, the roar of the people in the room came to a halt. The frantic movement of the dancers, the revelers- they all came to a close. Any and all sound and activity halted, Brandy and the stranger suddenly becoming the only signs of life. The man, whoever he was, had just stopped time.

Brandy was about to ask how he could have possibly done such a thing, when she realized one thing. This was her chance. This man, whoever he was, had just freed her. With time stopped, she could escape at her leisure. Absolutely nothing could stop her.

Brandy jumped away- yet remained in the same spot. Even though her muscles strained, Brandy could not move either.

"You can't move in stopped time, Brandy. Don't try it.", he said, and poured himself some tea.

"Just hear out my message."

Brandy let herself stop trying to move, and resigned herself to listening.

"I know things look pretty bad right now.", he said, and blew on his tea. "But really, they're not. You might think your clanmates aren't coming. But they're practically here. You might think there's no way out of this. But there are many. But most of all-"

He put down his tea, and stared directly into Brandy's eyes.

"You might think you will never forgive. But you will. And it's always darkest before the dawn."

And with that, the man set down his tea, snapped his fingers, and vanished.

Time resumed, and Brandy vanished too. But instead of vanishing to some higher realm, as He had certainly done, Brandy merely vanished and reappeared inside of the kitchen.

"Ah, theSenate.", said Ryusei_Nakao69. "Just the person I was looking for."

He sat down at theSenate's and LeChris's table, in the sort of way one would sit down in a sort-of, but not quite a, hurry.

"Did you wish to speak to me about anything in particular, Ryusei_Nakao69?", theSenate replied.
"I just wanted to congratulate you on what a great plan you had earlier.", his friend replied.

"Which plan?", asked theSenate. "The one where even though we had lost Brandy somewhere in the castle, and had practically no idea where she had gone, we told her we knew all this time and were just using her to find out our weaknesses?"

"Ah, yes, that's the one.", said Ryusei_Nakao69, and the two Kings laughed. LeChris laughed too, although not as much. It was really more of a chuckle.

Dan put his hand to his forehead to block out the sun, and peered over the treeline. He could see a massive, dark crimson shape in the forest of deadwood- the Clan Castle of TheEvilOverLords.

Even from here, he could feel the sheer darkness from within. He shuddered to think of what had happened to Brandy while she was in there, and almost hoped he would never find out.

He clenched his fist tightly, and sparks of pure Star Energy flew up and down his armor. He knew without a single doubt that this was going to be the hardest fight of his life- much, much harder than anything the Arenas possibly had to offer.

His main target was Chad. He was the one that had defiled Brandy, so he was the one that Dan had to kill first. After that, it was Rick. He hadn't done as much, but he had still abused her plenty.

"Dan, are we there?", asked Oticat. But he already knew the answer. He, too, could feel it in his blood.

"Yes.", said Dan with an air of pure, grim determination. He set down his hand, and stared directly towards the monolith of corruption that was the Clan Castle. "We're here."

"Yes, Veronica simply must come over and meet my Tanya.", said theSenate. "I think they'd get along just- oh?"

His Kingly Communicator was buzzing. "Hold on one moment, I have to take this.", he said to the other Kings, and took it from his pocket to his ear. "Hello, TheEvilOverLords, dirty deeds done dirt cheap, may I help you?"

"No.", said the voice of ChupilickytwaCT on the other end. "But we might be just about to help you."

Then there was the buzz of a dial tone, and theSenate slowly set down the communicator. He felt a slight tremor run through his feet, and up his legs. He looked around. Judging from the looks on the faces of LeChris and Ryusei_Nakao69, they could feel it too.

"Ah, you're back.", Max said to Brandy. "Just in time, too. Here."

He handed her an elegently done up plate, tender meat and cheeses dripped in a dark red liquid. "This one is going to the King."

"The King?", Brandy asked. She really already knew the answer, but she was hoping that she was wrong.

"Why, Ryusei_Nakao69, of course.", Max said with a smile. "This is his special blood plate."

Brandy looked once more at the mysterious sauce covering the entree, and hoped that the dark red liquid wasn't what she thought it was. Although knowing Ryusei_Nakao69, it probably was.

"Do I have to it?", Brandy asked, slightly nervously. "I don't really want to."

Max raised his eyebrows. "Yes. You have to. But you can do it, Brandy- come on. You're brave."

He pushed the plate into her hands. "Now go."

Brandy was about to protest once more, when she realized that this actually was the best chance. Once everyone came, and the battle started, being close to Ryusei_Nakao69 was the best place for an assassination.

Brandy pulled her hood closer over her face, and took the plate with confidence. "Alright, then Max.", she said, and started to walk. "I'm about to end this man's whole career."

Ryusei_Nakao69 looked up. "Do you feel that?"

"I do.", said LeChris. "Do you think it's somehow related to that call you got?"

"Perhaps.", said theSenate. "I think it might be some stolen Troop's Clan."

Ryusei_Nakao69 massaged his forehead. "Brandy…", he muttered from under his breath. "You really are proving a hassle. Those one million Gems I'm selling you for had better be worth it."

There was a loud thud, and the three Kings looked up. They all saw Kurizas, almost out of breath. His vizor was flipped up, and he dripped with sweat.

"Kurizas, what is it?", Ryusei_Nakao69 asked. "Tell me, quickly."

Kurizas swallowed, and looked up. "Father, we're under attack!"

Brandy swiftly strode through the tables, making her way to the table where Ryusei_Nakao69 sat. Her thoughts filled with all the ways she could possibly kill him. Once the wall fell, maybe she would grab a weapon from a nearby troop and stab him with it. There were lots of Royal Recruits around, a spear from them would do nicely. Or she could just jump onto his back, triangle-hold him into submission, and then punch him until his soul left his body. Or-

A sudden arm thrown out into the middle of the aisle blocked Brandy's way. She stopped with a huff, making sure not to spill anything.

"Aw, where are you going, little Bandit?", said a Barbarian slowly. He was very clearly drunk, his slow speech and unarticulated movements a clear testament. "I think you gotta stay."

"Excuse me sir, but I need to get through.", she said. "I have food to deliver."

Even though Brandy looked calm on the outside, her heart was racing. If she couldn't get to the King before her Clan appeared, the best chance for his death would be gone. She needed to get past this Barbarian. It shouldn't be too hard…, she thought.

But the Barbarian had other ideas. He leaned over in his chair, almost seeming to ooze. Brandy noticed with a shock that his eyes were pitch black, and without features. He extended an arm, and draped it over Brandy's shoulder. "Come here little Bandit… you don't need to go over there…"

Brandy ducked under his arm, and tried to move past him. But one of his friends blocked the way. "You don't need anything…"

Brandy's breathing started to speed up, and her brow started to sweat. The whole scene was all too terrifyingly familiar. She knew what would happen next. It wouldn't be stopped- it would probably just be encouraged. Encouraged, and seen by everyone in the room. It would probably be filmed, and cheered on.

One of the Barbarians eyed Brandy's torso. "You don't need this."

With an unnaturally fast blur of motion, he slashed his hand across Brandy's waist. A narrow strip of cloth came with his hand, exposing Brandy's midriff. She yelped, and stumbled backwards.

The other three Barbarians seemed to tower over her. The air behind them seemed to turn red, and all their eyes were black. They chuckled infernally, and started to move in.

Brandy tried to cover her bare skin with her cloak, but is was ineffectual. She tried to look for a way out, but there was none. It was going to happen again, in front of thousands of people, and there was nothing that Brandy could do to stop it.

"Please, no.", she whispered. "Not again."

The lead Barbarian drew a knife, with intent to cut through cloth.

In that moment, a gaze focused on Brandy from far across eternity. It was the gaze of a certain man, one wearing a monocle, a hat, and a brown leather coat. He did not approve of the activities taking place at the moment very much at all.

In that moment, the knife flew from the Barbarian's hand as if punched. His addled mind took a second to process this, until it too was struck. He flew from the chair as if hit by a Rocket, and landed unconscious on the ground. A thin flow of blood dripped from his jaw where he had been hit.

The other Barbarians stared at their fallen leader, slack-jawed. Until one fell to the ground with unnatural speed. Then another crumpled, and another was slammed to the floor with his jaw broken. The last one looked around, confused, and then tried to fall as well. But something stopped him.

If one were to look very, very closely at that moment, they could almost see a single, tiny, flash of what looked like the edge of a silver fist collide with the Barbarian's skull, crushing it nearly flat. But nobody was looking that hard, and so the strange phenomenon went unnoticed.

Brandy stared in shock at the phantom violence that she had just witnessed. She could hear a faint voice in her ear- one that whispered something that sounded like "Mota."

But whatever it was had vanished, and the Barbarians had been taken care of. So Brandy stood up, brushed herself off, and continued her way towards the table.

"Yes, so I told Kurizas to take all of his finest allies and defend.", said Ryusei_Nakao69, hurriedly explaining the situation to all the troops sitting at his table. "Against all of his elite, they shouldn't stand a chance."

"Is that why he's not sitting with us, Daddy?", asked Chloe, amid a sip of her soda. She had gotten Blueberry Bandit, as requested.

"Yes, it is.", replied the King. "I hope he'll be alright.", he said, and ate a slice of cheese off of the appetizer plate. "It's been, like, 6 whole minutes already.", said Chad. "That's enough time for a battle, right?"

"Yeah sure, in an Arena.", Valeyrie replied. "I don't know how long this one'll take though."

They all felt someone approach the table. Rick looked up. "Ah. There she is."

Song: Stardust Requiem

Brandy stood there, the still undisturbed plate in her hands. Oddly enough, as she stared right at the troops that had caused her incredible suffering, she seemed very calm.

"Good morning.", she said. "Here is your meal, Ryusei_Nakao69."

She bowed, and placed the plate upon the table. The King took it slowly, and looked it around. His mechanically and magically enhanced senses could find no trouble with it- it had not been poisoned or tampered with in any way, save the stray hair of a Barbarian that had fallen onto the edge of the plate. The only substance that could even be considered suspicious was his secret sauce, but that was by his order. No harm was done.

He slowly placed a slice of meat and a slice of cheese into his mouth. "You know, Brandy, you're doing quite well." He swallowed, and his veins bulged. His skin turned a shade redder, and his menacing aura seemed to grow more powerful. "You've taken to being my slave well."

But Brandy wasn't listening. She was already picking out the best way to take a spear from a Royal Recruit standing next to her. Approach from the right, duck underneath, kick to the knee, grab, lunge, and then- stab, right through the heart of Ryusei_Nakao69. She grinned slightly in anticipation. All she had to do was wait for her Clan to arrive. And they should get here any second now…

A door slammed open at the far end of the room. The deafening sound echoed throughout the entire chamber, and all the Troops and Kings turned to look. A single wounded figure walked through. Brandy couldn't quite make out who, or even what it was, but it seemed to part the crowd. Was it some King that was running from her friends? She sure hoped it was…

But then, the crowd in front of the table parted, and the smiling figure of Kurizas strode up. He put his elbow on the table and flashed his teeth.

"Father, I did it.", he said. "They're all defeated."

"Really?", said Ryusei_Nakao69 in surprise. "That easily?"

"Yes, I was a little surprised as well. They went down almost shockingly easily. But…"

He gestured to the sky. "The Clan of LosDementosCT is no more!"

Ryusei_Nakao69 cast a haunting look at Brandy. "Well, would you look at that. Your Clan isn't coming to save you after all.

Brandy heard his words, but did not process them at first. It took a few runs through her mind, but then she understood what he meant.

Her heart snapped in two. An icy chill ran through her body, followed by the hot fire of sheer, absolute panic. A thick, choking wave of darkness spread throughout her soul, drowning out all light and leaving her in sorrow. Brandy felt like she was going to throw up. She felt like crying. She felt like she was going to die.

But even more than that, she felt an odd determination well up from within her. Because she also knew that in this moment, she was free. In this moment, she had only one thing left to do. In this moment, she no longer had anything to lose. Even if she was now doomed to live a life of slavery, she could make sure it wouldn't happen to anyone else.

As if to bolster her insane courage, a boost of wild rage flowed up from her beating heart. Brandy's skin flushed purple, and her eyes glowed. She roared, and with supernatural strength and speed, grabbed the sides of her anti-dash collar. She strained at the hard metal, her arms bulging with the effort.

Song: Virtuous Pope

"What is she doing?", Chad yelled. "Is she breaking free?"

With a powerful grunt, Brandy ripped her collar in two, and flung the pieces aside. They slammed against two Guards that had ran up to stop her, ripping through them and scattering them apart. Her arms burned from the effort, but she no longer cared. She no longer cared about anything but death. Both Ryusei_Nakao69's, and perhaps her own.

Now free to use her full strength, Brandy Dashed to the side of Royal Recruit. She hit him with a barrage of punches so powerful his armor was punched into bits, and his torso was torn to bits, shredded all at once. Her battle cry while she did so was so fierce, it didn't even sound like a troop- almost like a volcanic eruption.

Chad moved to intercept her, but he was in slow motion compared to Brandy's speed. She saw everything like it was happening at leisure, almost like a memory. She snatched the spear of the swiftly dying Recruit, and leapt forward, straight at the King.

Chad tried to block the blow. Rick attempted to intercept it as well. Valeyrie tried to swing her axe to cut the spear before it hit her King. The three Princesses ducked, thinking only of their own safety. Only Ryusei_Nakao69 was calm, sitting there elegantly, his hands folded together. The only expression on his face was one of pure joy.

But Brandy didn't care. Even though everyone she knew was dead, she almost felt peaceful. Because she knew that she was going to go out avenging them, killing the sick bastard that had brought unspeakable pain to the lives of so many Troops, so many Kings that had never seen their favorite Troop return home. So much unspeakable darkness, all concentrated in this single individual, that now sat totally vulnerable.

Everything seemed frozen around her. She met the King's smug gaze with a ferocious, raging glare. "Die, Ryusei_Nakao69!", she screamed. With a mighty roar, and with a clear path, Brandy stabbed Ryusei_Nakao69 in the heart with the Royal Recruit's spear, pressing all the way through, coming out the other end, and hitting the floor, the tip breaking on the cold hard stone.

For a brief, glorious moment, there was nearly absolute silence. No sound at all, save her heavy breathing, and the sound of the blood of the King slowly dripping out onto the floor. Every Troop, every King in the room stared motionless at their leader, stabbed through the heart.

"I did it.", Brandy whispered. "I killed him."

She collapsed to her knees, and looked down at the floor.

"I'm sorry, everyone.", she said underneath her breath. "I'm sorry for getting you all into this. I'm sorry for making you all die."

And Brandy wept. Tears partially born of sorrow, and tears partially born of victory, flowed from her eyes and onto the ground. Because she knew that there was no winner in this battle. Just one Clan destroyed, another leaderless, and she herself about to be left to whatever fate the universe decided.

Song: Golden Frieza theme

"Brandy, what are you crying for?", came a dark voice. It was too familiar. A jolt ran through Brandy's heart. No. It couldn't be. It couldn't.

Brandy looked up, and saw Ryusei_Nakao69 staring back at her, still very much alive.

"Come now, Brandy.", he said, and grabbed the spear. "Did you really think-"

He yanked the spear out of his chest, and tossed it aside. Brandy could see the pitch-black cut almost glowing with red energy slowly sew itself shut. "-that you could kill I, the great Ryusei_Nakao69, inside my own castle? With such a meager weapon?"

He lowered a finger towards Brandy. "Guards… you know what to do."

Brandy just stared at him in shock, as the Guards restrained her exhausted limbs. "How?", she asked. "I stabbed you right through the heart… how did you survive? You're not a normal King."

"Well, of course I'm not.", he said with a wicked leer. "I have ascended far above that station. And now, I have power running through my veins other Kings would kill for."

He affixed his stare upon Brandy, and she could feel an unnatural chill run through her. "And as for you…"

Ryusei_Nakao69 slowly stood up. He made his way towards Brandy, his hard boots clicking against the stone floor. When he reached her, he grabbed her cheeks, and stared right into her eyes.

"You were doing so well.", he said with a slow shake of his head. "I thought you had accepted your place as my slave. And then, you had to go and throw it all away."

He let go of her cheeks, and put his finger against her forehead. Brandy could instantly feel some dark, evil presence groping through her consciousness, reading every thought, exploring every cranny, taking notes of her most inner mind.

"Well, it seems as though you'll never accept my rule willfully.", he said, and stood up once more. "I do think it would be quite fun to slowly break you, but I'm a busy man, and I frankly don't have time for that. Forced hypnotism it is, then. Yaga?"

As if by magic, a Witch appeared at his side. "Yes, my lord?"

"Prepare your most potent mind magics. We have a resister here."

The Witch bowed. "Understood, my lord. Rest assured, her free will will be drained within a moment's notice."

She left, presumably to gather ingredients.

Song: Dark Rebirth

"Drain… my will?", Brandy repeated to herself. The words felt alien coming out of her mouth, like they didn't belong. "No. You can't do that. That's not possible."

"Really?", asked Ryusei_Nakao69 in mild amusement. "Than what do you call what we've been doing? What do you call all of our successful patients? What do you call… this?"

He snapped his fingers again, and another figure appeared next to him, out of a sudden dark umbra. This one was a Bandit, a totally blank stare upon her face.

Brandy instinctively jerked back. This one seemed too real to her. The others had been merely frightening, but to see an example made of your own Troop type was just too much.

"Miss Julia, why don't you show Brandy what you can do?", Ryusei_Nakao69 asked politely.

"What do you mean, your Highness?", the empty shell of a Bandit responded.

"Hmmm, how about telling me you serve?", the King asked.

"I serve you, great Ryusei_Nakao69, master.", Julia said, completely devoid of emotion.

"Mmm, good.", Ryusei_Nakao69 said. "Now tell me, do you have any free will at all?"

"None at all, sire.", Julia said, almost robotically. "I am merely a tool for my master to use. I am no longer a person, merely an object to fulfill your wishes."

"Very nice.", said the King, and snapped his fingers again. Julia vanished back into the dark umbra, which also disappeared.

"Now do you see, Brandy?", Ryusei_Nakao69 asked. "You are nothing to me. You are nothing to anyone. You are merely a bargaining chip between me and my debtor. Now know your place."

Brandy started to panic. Even if it meant willingly becoming a slave for the rest of her life, she couldn't lose her free will. She couldn't end up like that… that… thing Ryusei_Nakao69 had brought out.

"Fine.", she said. The King looked down at her in mild surprise. "I'll do it. I'll be your slave."

Her shoulders heaved, and her eyes squinted shut. "Do whatever you want to me, just don't take away my free will. I beg you, let me be your slave willingly."

Then, the curtains stirred in some unseen breeze. The first light of dawn came floating in through the windows, and Brandy realized what she had said.

Ryusei_Nakao69 smiled. "I told you.", he said. "I told you, by the first light of dawn, you would be begging for it."

He waved his hand. "But, that time has already passed. You had your chance, Brandy- and you ignored it. Your mind will be erased- whether you like it or not."

He pressed a button on his throne, and the entire seating area rose up on a huge platform, high enough so that everyone in the seating area could see.

"This is it, Brandy.", the King said, and the Witch from earlier appeared next to him. "Say goodbye to your will."

The Witch bent down, and moved the tip of her staff closer to Brandy's forehead.

A tiny alarm sounded in Ryusei_Nakao69's ear. "Wait.", he said. "I have to take this."

He pressed the device. "Yes?"

"Actually, sir, I've been thinking.", said the voice of Max on the other side.

Brandy's heart leapt. Max? Had he come to her rescue?

"What if we just removed her memories, like we did last time?", he continued. "Wouldn't that work just as well? Then you could actually have a Bandit to use."

Ryusei_Nakao69 thought about this. Despite how good it would feel when he finally destroyed the mind of the Bandit that had caused him so much trouble over the last few days, Max did have a point. When he had first taken this job, he had been mostly in it because it would finally get him a Bandit of his own. Not to mention, Chloe had seemed to want her as a caretaker permanently, and that would be very difficult for someone who was really little more than a mindless doll.

"You know, Max, you're right.", said Ryusei_Nakao69. "I guess I keep you around for more than just your cooking."

He raised his hand. "Yaga, cancel that order. Just go for a memory wipe instead of the whole mind."

"Understood, sire.", said Yaga. "I'm going in."

She reached out with her hand, and grabbed the edge of Brandy's mask. "But first, I'm just going to find out what a Bandit looks like without her mask. I've always wondered…"

Yaga yanked on Brandy's mask, to no result. She did it again, but still nothing.

"It doesn't come off.", Brandy said. "Believe me, I've tried. It's just part of my skin."

The Witch frowned. "Hmph. Well then, let's begin."

Yaga touched her staff to Brandy's forehead, and their mental duel began.

In an instant, the voices pierced Brandy's mind. They swirled and howled as a black mist, filling her mind with like a dark shadow. The things they said radiated of evil, yet Brandy could not help but hear them. And there was another sound, too- a deep, pulsing, distorted thrum that shook Brandy's head.

Join us, a voice hissed. You know you want to.

Your life will be better here, another spat. You have to accept that.

You've already been defeated. Face it, one roared, malice dripping off of its voice.

Brandy gritted her teeth, and tried not to listen.

This is what you deserve, one said menacingly. You brought all your friends to their doom- you should get yours.

Ever since you got here, this is what you've been dreaming of.

You want to lose. You want to lose all your memories, to start totally anew.

There is only one path to take here. Give in.

Bow to your master, Brandy. Know him, and revere him.

Finally, Yaga herself stared deep into Brandy's soul. "Give in to me, Brandy. And I promise that when we rule the world, you will be at Ryusei_Nakao69's side."

Song: Cornered

Brandy snarled. "Fat chance.", she whispered, and spat in Yaga's eye.

The Witch screeched and jerked back, providing enough time for Brandy to break away from her spell. She fought to remove all traces of the hypnotism from her mind, while Yaga wiped away Brandy's saliva from her face.

"Yaga, are you alright?", asked Ryusei_Nakao69. "What happened?"

"The little brat spat in my eye, that's what happened.", growled Yaga. "She's not going down as easily as I thought. She's got a very strong will."

Then she smiled, and gripped her staff tighter. "It will be a pleasure to break her."

She looked into Brandy's eyes. "Brandy, it seems this isn't working. Perhaps, if I just show you what awaits you…"

Images began to flicker across Brandy's mind. Images of what supposedly awaited her, once she gave in.

She saw herself, in a grand hall, surrounded by Troops that she assumed were her friends. She saw herself reading a story to Chloe, then tucking her into bed. She saw herself on a mission with Bailey, stealing a Loot Cart as best friends. She saw herself whistling with happiness as she prepared food alongside Max, then give him a loving kiss on the cheek. Brandy almost wished such things would come to pass- almost. But she knew she had to stay strong.

The scenes changed to those of battle. Brandy saw herself in the Arena, all maxed out and shimmering gold. She saw herself as part of a Bridge Spam deck, fighting alongside Chad, Rick, and Valeyrie. And then, she saw herself after a Three Crown, head back to the castle, and willingly climb into bed with them.

That image was enough. Any trace of acceptance she might have had vanished in an instant, replaced only by a blinding rage. She opened her eyes again, and audibly growled at Yaga.

But Yaga didn't even flinch. She didn't even say anything, having fully expected this. Yaga just ran her fingers up her staff, flicking a switch that read "Persuasion" to one that read "Combat."

Oh great, Brandy thought. Here we go again.

"You may be strong, Bandit.", Yaga said. "But I doubt you've ever been trained in mental combat."

She touched the staff to Brandy's forehead, and their second duel began.

Bailey whistled appreciatively. "Dang.", she said. "Yaga's really doing a number on her. Hope she'll be alright- I could really use her in my gang."

"Your… gang?", Meg asked shyly.

"Sure.", Bailey said. "We're called the Passion. We do stuff. You wanna join?"

Meg's face flushed. "Oh- um, yes. Yes, I'd love to!"

"Great to hear it.", said Bailey. "Now zip it and watch."

Yaga awoke in a blank yellow field. Traces of blue zipped around it, and thin blue lines adorned the sides. A tunnel in the far back led to blackness, and parts unknown. Ah, her mind, she thought. Not a very developed place, is it?

In the center of the area, Yaga could see a glowing box. It looked almost, but not quite like, a Legendary Chest. It had a dragon and a sword decorating its outside, and grey and blue ribbons fell from its lid.

Hmm, her mind's bounty is quite open, thought Yaga. No defenses of any kind. Once I get in there, it will be a simple matter to just remove her memories and be on my way.

She pushed off of the ground, and floated slowly towards the box. She reached out a hand to grab it and-

And it was suddenly crushed from above by a vicious flying kick. Yaga screeched and withdrew, seeing with shock Brandy land in front of her.

"You thought I couldn't use mental combat, hmm?", Brandy said. "Well, looks like today's not your lucky day."

"You…", Yaga hissed, and leapt forward. Brandy charged up her Dash- she could use it inside of her mind. The Power Suppressor only had an effect on her physical body.

Brandy met Yaga's staff with a powerful kick that knocked the Witch backwards. She grunted and hit the floor of Brandy's mind, then slowly got to her feet. Brandy had disappeared.

Yaga looked around, and saw nothing. Absolutely nothing at all- until the bottom of Brandy's boot collided with her face in a sharp crack.

Song: Virtuous Pope

It was, in a way, satisfying for Brandy. To hear such a solid blow connect, and to see such a hated enemy beaten decisively. Yaga may have been powerful, but she was in Brandy's mind. The home arena advantage, coupled with the mental training that Agatha and Bowza had taught her, would surely yield her the fight. She had not seen the point in the training before, but now Brandy was glad it had taken place.

"Impudent, willful little girl…", Yaga growled. "You're just like all the others. So sure you can win, so confident in your abilities."

Brandy conjured up a phantasmal stick, similar to the one that she would normally fight with, and threw it at Yaga's head. The Witch's hand struck out as fast as lightning, caught the weapon, and broke it into bits. Her eyes glinted with evil intent.

"But…", she said. "I have never lost!"

With a wave of her staff, 6 more Yagas appeared. They swirled into a circle around Brandy, and slammed their staffs into the floor as one.

Brandy tried to remember what to do in this situation. If an enemy has you surrounded, you need to create a… a…

The Yagas all closed in on Brandy at once. She still could not remember.

Ryusei_Nakao69 had been watching the proceedings with mild concern. They had both been under for a few minutes now, and it was beginning to become disconcerting. Both Brandy's and Yaga's eyes had rolled back into their heads, showing the blue and red whites. He had no understanding of mental combat; it wasn't his area of expertise.

"Yaga, what's going on?", he asked. "Is everything alright?"
Upon hearing no answer, he gently touched Yaga on the shoulder.

One of the Yagas struck Brandy's knees from behind, forcing her to the ground. Another jabbed her staff into Brandy's ribs, keeping her pinned there. And yet another placed her hand over Brandy's mouth and covered her eyes. Against only one Witch, Brandy had been winning. But against 7, she simply stood no chance.

"Shh, don't fight it, Brandy.", Yaga said. "Just let it happen. Just let it happen."

Another Yaga leisurely made her way over to the mind box. She placed one finger on the lid.

"I knew you couldn't resist, Brandy.", she said. "I knew it."

Brandy's heart beat. A pulse of pure rage flowed through her. Those were the exact same things that Chad had said to her, in that canyon, on that fateful night.

Her eyes glowed purple, and a thin laser streaked from them, through one of the Yaga's hands, and through the arm of the Yaga touching the mind box.

"Why, you-", Yaga began, but then was quickly cut short. She felt a physical intrusion, and was immediately yanked out of her trance.

"Ah, there you are, Yaga.", said Ryusei_Nakao69 with a friendly smile. "I was just a little concerned."

"You fool!", she screamed, surprising everyone in the room. "You've broken my concentration! I have to get back in now."

Her eyes narrowed, and her eyes rolled back in her head. She went back into her trance, and all traces of the physical fell away.

Once she re-entered Brandy's mind, Yaga was disappointed to see that her clones had vanished. Usually, they would stick around- but then again, Brandy was not a usual victim.

Yaga looked around for any sign of Brandy- and then she found one. Hovering above the mind box, in the dead center of the room, was a feedback loop orb. It was the only defense against mind cloning, and Brandy had managed to build one. Certainly, it wasn't a particularly hard move to pull off, but Yaga was surprised that Brandy had managed to do it so quickly.

"Come down from there, Brandy.", said Yaga. "Come down, and meet your fate."

"Come down?", echoed Brandy's voice from all directions. "I believe I already have."

A savage kick collided with Yaga's back, sending her spinning head over heels further towards the center of the room. Brandy had never been in the feedback loop orb- she had been waiting in the corner of her mind, ready to strike.

Yaga tumbled over herself, dropping her staff in the process. She skidded facedown to a stop- right next to Brandy's mind box.

Brandy noticed first. Yaga's position was dangerously close. With just one perfect move, she could wipe out all of Brandy's memories in an instant. She had to strike down the Witch immediately.

Yaga noticed soon after. Partially from Brandy's panicked run towards her, and her own taking note of her position. Brandy ran as fast as she could, but to no avail. Yaga flipped open the lid to Brandy's mind box, and reached her hand inside.

"Stop running!", Yaga yelled. "Or you lose your entire mind!"

Brandy reluctantly stopped running. She gritted her teeth, knowing that Yaga had the upper hand here.

"I win, Brandy.", Yaga hissed. "Your mind is mine. You just forgot to keep it guarded."

"Maybe so.", Brandy said. "But you forgot one other thing."

"Really?", Yaga asked. "And what is that?"

"I did."

Yaga looked down, and saw what Brandy meant. A small, blinking Mine had attached itself to Yaga's arm, having crawled out from the open box. She hardly had time for her eyes to widen before the Mine exploded, blowing the Witch's mental arm to bits.

Yaga screamed, and fell away from the box. She looked up, right at the moment that Brandy caught up to her. There was the noise of a savage punch, and Yaga was blown away to the side of the room once more.

"You're 3-0, Yaga.", said Brandy. "Looks like I win."

"Oh, do you now?", asked a voice behind her.

Brandy stiffened and turned around, but not quickly enough. Three different staffs all slammed into her, landing a solid blow on her forehead, ribs, and leg. She fell back, but caught herself before she hit the ground. In front of her stood even more clones of Yaga than last time- there had to be at least 12.

"You forgot to maintain your feedback loop, Brandy.", they all said at once. "And now, you won't have a chance to set them back up again. It was only Ryusei_Nakao69's foolishness that spared you last time- and that will not happen again."

As one, they all banged their staffs on the floor. As one, there was a familiar sound. And as one, a horde of 36 Skeletons all crawled to the surface.

Shoot, Brandy thought. What can I do now?

The sound of her thoughts echoed around the room, and Yaga laughed. "Your innermost thoughts reveal themselves, Brandy! I do indeed have you trapped!"

And I can now access your thoughts, the Witch then broadcasted. Soon, my control will be complete!

Brandy tried to take a step, but the vast, still-increasing Army of Skeletons kept her at bay. She knew she had only one chance to win here, or at least force a draw.

"You are indeed a tricky one, Brandy.", said Yaga as she made her way once more to Brandy's mind box. "But you're all out of tricks now. I win."

She grabbed the lid and flung it open. "I am… unavoidable."

But Brandy was not out of tricks. She still had one more left. And in the split second between Yaga opening her box and her reaching inside, Brandy scraped her hand against a Skeleton's hand at Dash speed. The leather on her gloves caught fire from the friction, and she held up her hand.

"And I…", she said. "Am on fire."

She stuck her burning finger inside of her mouth. The flame was extinguished, but the heat, and more importantly the idea of the heat, carried through to her brain.

Yaga flinched, as a roar built up in the dark tunnel at the back of the room. She hurriedly tried to plunge her hand into Brandy's mind box, but something lunged out and bit her. She cursed and tried to grab it again, but it was far too late.

Yaga screamed as a vast sheet of flame roared into Brandy's mind, and pure heat devoured her, her clones, and the entire Army of Skeletons. Brandy collapsed to her knees, among the great blaze, and her mind avatar vanished.

Yaga's physical body recoiled in immense pain as she snapped back to reality, and her eyes returned to normal. Her hands flew to her face, and she screamed.

Brandy, too, returned to normal. But instead of resting, as she probably should have, she leaned forward, and laughed. She laughed at Yaga, aggressive and triumphant.

"Yeah!", she yelled. "Suck on it!"

Yaga hid her face from view, and Ryusei_Nakao69 put his fingers together. "Interesting.", he said. "You seem to somehow be able to resist Yaga's methods. I simply must study you further."

He snapped his fingers. "Yaga, hold off on her. Chad, Rick, take her to the dungeons. Or to your rooms, I don't care. Her mind is clearly worthy of further study."

Song: Unwinnable Battle

Upon hearing this, Brandy slightly relaxed. She instinctively figured that Yaga had given up, and that she could rest her mind now.

But as Brandy learned just one second later, she was wrong.

In an instant, Ryusei_Nakao69 barked an order. In an instant, Yaga swirled around once again, and pressed her staff to Brandy's forehead.

Brandy had not been prepared for the attack. The force of Yaga's enraged mind swept through her own like a firestorm. She tried to defend, but Yaga had reached her memories before she knew it.

She could feel the Witch's full force bearing down on her. She fought desperately to keep her most precious memories- those of her family, her King. She was Blue, she was Blue, she was Blue- she had to remember that most of all.

But even as she thought of them, she thought how utterly hopeless it seemed to remember them. They were all dead now, anyway. There was no point in thinking of them anymore. Maybe she should just join this Clan, where there was a bright future ahead of her-

No. No, she couldn't. That was Yaga talking, and Brandy knew it. She pushed back, as strong as she possibly could. Every single ounce of her mental strength, and every final bit of fortitude she had within her went towards one single, final, last push. And she could see it- the blue and gold fist of her will, pushing against the red and black tidal wave of Yaga's.

"It's over now, brat.", Yaga hissed. "Give in!"

Yet she knew that Brandy's will was intensely strong, and Yaga might actually not be able to defeat it. So she abandoned any semblance of fighting fair. Yaga smiled, drew back her fist, and punched Brandy in the gut.

That blow was all it took. Brandy spat, and lost her concentration. The storm of Yaga's will poured over Brandy, forcing her down into the abyss. She tried to still push, but it was too late. Yaga's force surrounded her like some infernal tentacle, wrapping around Brandy's mind, pulling her down into oblivion, and-

Brandy's head jerked upwards with a painful cry, then she fell limp. Her eyes closed, and her chin lay upon her chest. Yaga smiled, took Brandy's chin in her hand, and held it up to her face.

"There... no isn't that better?", she said. "Now that you've finally given up?"

"Better... better...", Brandy mumbled.

The corners of Ryusei_Nakao69's mouth turned up in a grin, then a smile, then a full-blown, insane wound. He threw back his head and laughed, an all-powerful ohohohohoho that echoed off the walls. All had gone exactly according to plan, minus maybe a few small kinks here and there. He was happy, his benefactor would be happy, and now he would have a brand new Bandit.

"Who are you?", Yaga asked, just as a last minute test. She knew without a doubt that her spell had finally worked, erasing Brandy's memories and leaving nothing but a clean slate. But just to gloat, she would do this.

"Who… am I?", Brandy mumbled. "Who am I…"

So it had worked then, beyond a shadow of a doubt. Yaga started to stand up, when Brandy said one more thing.

"I'll tell you who I am."

Everyone on the podium looked down in shock. "What?", they all said, or at least thought.

Brandy continued. "My name is Brandy the Bandit. My King is Oticat. My Clan is LosDementosCT. And you can never, ever, take that from me."

She looked up, and everyone could see the sheer hatred that came from her. A faint purple glow surrounded her body as she spoke.

"Why, Brandy?", said Ryusei_Nakao69. "Why would abandon such a good life with us, choosing instead to side yourself with those you know are dead?"

"I think you already know.", said Brandy. "But I will tell you. It is because I, at my very inner heart, am a fighter. I am loyal to those I love. And I'll tell you right now- you might as well just give up with trying to make me yours. Because I will never, ever-"

Yaga performed a quick remote check on Brandy's mind again, and gasped. She saw two glorious, glowing images imprinted on Brandy's soul- one was of a mysterious figure in heavy armor, and the other was of a man in a brown leather coat.

"-stop fighting!", Brandy yelled. "And I will never, ever, let you win!"

Ryusei_Nakao69's face twisted into a harsh grimace. "Well,", he said, "I suppose he really only wanted her soul. Her body was just a bonus."

Chad and Rick both heard these mutterings, and looked at each other. "Uh, sir?", said Chad. "What are you doing?"

The King's face was a mask of sheer rage. "Vladimir!", he roared. "Do your duty."

On his command, a previously unseen figure rose from the seat at the edge of the platform. It was a menacing-looking Executioner, a hood covering his face.

Brandy saw him stand, and her blood ran cold.

"Sir, don't!", Rick shouted. "I thought you needed her alive!"

"Not anymore!", Ryusei_Nakao69 bellowed. "Finish her, Vlad!"

The Executioner thrust out his arm, and took an enormous step to where Brandy was still restrained. A massive axe, leaning on the wall on the other side of the room, vibrated and then flew through the crowd and into his hands with a metallic thrum, cutting skin along the way.

Song: Roundabout

"You, Brandy, have been nothing but a thorn in my side since the day you arrived.", growled Ryusei_Nakao69. "I frankly don't even see why He wanted you specifically. But I do know this-"

Vladimir raised his axe, far above Brandy's head, ready to strike. "It will be a pleasure to finally be rid of you."

Ignoring the protests from the crowd and the Elite Barbarians, the axe fell, aiming directly for Brandy's head.

Yet even as it did, Brandy was not afraid. Instead, her thoughts were of peace. For she could die happily, knowing that in the end, even their strongest efforts had been unable to break her.

She closed her eyes, and the last thing Brandy saw was Meg, far across the room, staring at her in pain.

And the last thing she heard was the indescribable, yet unmistakable sound, of a Clone spell sliding into place.