Head Hunter check to make sure he had his pistol on him, then he left the room with Raven Holm. As the walked down the street, they noticed a new store had opened in Head Hunter's absence. It had a sign that read: "Tradin' and Stuffs." Head Hunter motioned to Raven Holm to follow him inside.

It was late at night, so the building was very empty. There were about a dozen Item Dispensers along two of the walls, but only three Engineers were inside.

"Hello. It is good to see a familiar set of faces in this land." Head Hunter said, walking up to them.

As Head Hunter got closer, he could see the minor details of the dispensers and the Engineers themselves. Item Dispensers themselves were not very hard to make, just a few adjustments to a regular dispenser, but they were never okayed by Mann Co., so every Item Dispenser was unique to the man who made it. Engi, as in the Engineer that was the Element ofGenerosity, had a very simple, user friendly interface, and the whole thing was clean, and covered by protective metal alloys. These Engineers, whoever, were different.

There was one Engineer who was wearing a Ten-Gallon hat, and his dispenser was slightly rusty, and was clearly built to last, and not look pretty. The Engineer next to him had a Welder's Mask on, and his dispenser was painted red and orange 'Hot Rod' colors. The third was in the other corner, back turned. He was clearly working in something.

"Howdy, Partner. I bet it is, if a sniper uttered those words." Said the first Engineer, chuckling.

"So, what IS all of this?" Asked Head Hunter.

"Welp, this is how we have been makin' money. Trades were big in the arenas, but they a bigger here." Said the second Engineer. "See, of all the Mann Co. Merc 'round 'ere, ya'll fall inta two categories: 'Purists,' and 'Progressives.' The so called 'Purists' only want to use Mann Co. authorized weapons, Mann Co. authorized hats, an' so on. The so called 'Progressives' want to take in all this place got to offer us."

"But you already know that, right? I see those non-authorized... whatever-they-ares in you pockets... And that Pony behind you." Added the Engineer with the Ten-Gallon hat.

"Actually, I have been... Out of town for the past few days. I have a job here, and I work with this pony." Head Hunter shrugged. "Pays well."

"Ya? Well, feel to use our faculities... For a price, a course." The Welder Hat Engineer pointed to a sign that read: 5 min = 5 Bits.

"I can do that." Head Hunter walked over to the First Item dispenser. He pulled out five coins, and laid them out on the table next to it.

Head Hunter signed into his Mann Co. acount, and noticed considerable amount of latency between his actions, and Mann Co. response. He shrugged it off, and went to check his total inventory. As planned, his friends back home were rerouting all unneeded weapons to his acount. With a few clicks, he was the proud owner of two reclaimed Metal, and two refined Metal... And nothing to do with them.

He then moved on, and check hus messages. Also as he requested, Ironic Pyro had set him a message everytime something important happened. What he saw shocked him.

Saxon Hale had been oust from Mann Co., and the servers were only running because the new owner had set robots to work keeping them running. The new owner of Mann Co. was the four-year-old Daughter of Greyman Man.

"Bastard finally found a way to win." Head Hunter muttered under his breath.

"Sorry, did you say somthing?" Asked Raven Holm.

"Uh... No, nevermind. I am almost done." Replied the sniper.

Ironic Pyro's final message read as follows: The Ghost of Bluetarch Mann has hired us to dig up his brother and send him to hell. Sounds strange, I know. But... This is the only work I can get right now, so I have to take the job. Sorry if it ends up badly...

If you can survive being Molotov Cocktailed in the face, I have a feeling you will be fine.

...

After Head Hunter was finished at the Trade shop, he and Raven Holm made their way to the bar Scout was at. As they approached the door, Head Hunter started to hear the song that was playing. The song caused him to pause.

"

This is it, the Apocalypse, oooh oh!

I'm wakin' UP!

I feel it in my bones, 'nough to make this system glow,

Welcome to the new age, to the new age,

Welcome to the new age, to the new age!

"

"Yes, welcome..." Head Hunter muttered.

"What?" Asked Raven Holm.

"I know this song. It called 'Radioactive,' and the band that plays it is called 'Imagine Dragons.'" He replied. "And it is welcoming a new age in Equistira. There is no going back."

"We don't know that for sure." Offered Raven Holm. "I am sure someone will find a way for you to get back to your home."

"No. Even if that does happens, I am staying. I have a duty to Princess Luna." With that, Head Hunter opened the door and walked into the bar.

...

Scout wasn't hard to find, even with the half-dozen other Mann. Co Mercs around. He was sitting in a booth by himself in the far back of the pub. He seemed to be sulking, but in reality, he was asleep.

Head Hunter and Raven Holm slid into the booth. When Scout still didn't stir, Head Hunter kicked table. Scout jumped, pulled out his scattergun, and pointed it a Head Hunter's... Well, Head.

Not even flinching, Head Hunter put his hand on the Scattergun, and forced it down. Scout's face turned to surprise as he realized that it was his friend.

"Yo, man, whats up? I've been looking everywhere for you!" Scout said.

Pointing at the small pile of Beer bottles on the table, Raven Holm said, "I can see you were working real hard."

"Hey, this was over the last 24 hours, man!"

Raven Holm raised one eyebrow, questioningly.

"Okay, so it was over the past few hours. What do you care?" Scout turned to face Head Hunter. "Who even is this guy?"

"This is my associate, Raven Holm." Replied Head Hunter. "And an abled Grifter."

"A what?"

Head Hunter shook his head. "Never mind. So, how have you been holding up?"

"Pretty good man. Ya know, except for the long periods where I can think of nuthin but Dashie. Those are hard." Scout reached into his bag and retrieved a satchel. "Oh, and Garvel told me to give this to ya."

Head Hunter grabbed the package, and set it on the table in front of him. "What's in it?"

"Somthin from Engi, and a letter from Garvel. I... Don't exactly remember what either of them were." Scout replied, the. Shrugged.

Suddenly, the room became quieter to Head Hunter. The music was softer, the clinking of glass from the bar was barely audible, yet, Scout and Raven Holm didn't seem to notice. Head Hunter heard the clear and audible noise of a door behind him opening. He turned to see that the man and woman he had met at the strange cove of lighhouses.

The Woman motioned with her hand for him to follow the pair, then the Man reached forward and closed the door in front of them.

The Sounds returned to their orginial volumes gradually.

"And then we find this guy, all beat up! And ya know who beat him up?" Scout was apparently telling Raven Holm about when he met Head Hunter. "My Ex! How 'bout that?"

"Hey, for the record, His Ex was Rainbow Dash. And also completly intent in killing me. While My head was Still Spinning from my being... Well, here." Head Hunter cut in.

Scout looked around nervously. "Hey, is it okay to talk about... You know." Scout lowered his voice to a whisper. "Bout how Dash is dead?"

Raven Holm glanced around the room as well. "This is no news to me, but I think it is to most people. Lets just agree to never mention it, alright? We have enemies who would flip over this information."

Head Hunter slid out of the boot and stood up.

"Yes, well, about that." He said. "Raven Holm, we can trust Scout. Fill him in about the jobs. I will be right back."

"Yo, where ya goin?" Scout asked.

"I just gotta talk to some... Friends..."