“Not bad,” I mused as I stepped out of the store and onto the sidewalk of Gideon Heights. “Not bad at all.”

I looked down at myself, taking in my new boots and clothes. The boots were comfortable and sturdy, perfect for marching around inside the Labyrinth, as were my new clothes. I was grateful for the clothes that Davis had given me, but most of those had already been ruined by fighting monsters.

It had been a full week since I’d woken up in the respawn pool, and for the first time since then, I actually had money in my pocket. I was finally able to afford all the little things that I needed, such as new clothes…and the female hygiene products that I would soon require. I didn’t need them yet. Yet was the operative word. I was a practical man…woman, and knew that it was only a matter of time. I wanted to be ready for when I did need them.

My eyes went down to the bags I was carrying, and I felt myself blushing just a little bit at the thought of what was in one of them. I’d found a dildo in the back of the store, and had been curious enough to buy it. After all, I had a new body and it only made sense that I check out the new plumbing. I was just disappointed that vibrators wouldn’t work this close to the Labyrinth, or I would have bought one of those as well.

“Ca…Maggie,” I told myself with a sigh. “You are a total pervert.”

At least I could afford small luxuries, all thanks to the unobtainium that we’d found inside the Labyrinth. Unobtainium. For having suck a ridiculous name, the stuff sure was valuable. And as a further irony, a metal which came from a place where technology didn’t work, was actually a necessary material for some of the latest modern technology.

Unobtainium and several other resources like it didn’t exist naturally on Earth. The Labyrinth was the only known place where those things could be found, and players were the only ones who could successfully go in to retrieve them. This was the reason that the people in power considered players to be useful rather than dangerous, and why they subtly encouraged us to work the Labyrinth.

Just then, I saw something from the corner of my eye. I quickly looked and saw it, a shimmering in the air, right in the middle of the street. It looked just like the entrance to the Labyrinth, only a lot smaller. This one was only about seven feet tall.

Of course, this actually was an entrance to the Labyrinth, or at least, an unstable echo of the main one. Every stable Labyrinth entrance had these unstable echoes, much smaller versions that would randomly open and close within a few miles of them. They would appear without warning and could last anywhere from minutes to weeks before vanishing just as abruptly as they’d arrived. These things were why it was impossible to fully control access to the Labyrinth.

A moment later, I saw something in the echo opening, only to watched as a familiar looking rat monster emerged into the middle of the street. A second rat followed right behind.

“Great,” I grumbled, thinking that these echoes were also the reason people kept having monster problems.

I reached for the dagger on my belt, one of the prizes from the treasure box we’d found yesterday. I wasn’t quite sure how, but I’d ended up with the dagger. Nobody else had really wanted it. Once I had my dagger in hand, I fired an ‘Invocation of Spite’ at the first rat. It went down screaming.

My attention turned to the second rat, which I expected to charge at me since I’d killed the first one. It looked like it was about to do just that, but then it suddenly fell over with a crossbow bolt sticking out of its head. I stared at it for a moment, then sheathed my dagger. It looked like I wasn’t going to need that after all.

“Maggie,” a familiar voice greeted me.

I looked over at the middle-aged woman who was walking towards me with a crossbow held in her hands. It looked like a pretty nice piece of equipment, made with modern materials but still usable in town.

“Agent Davis,” I responded with a nod of acknowledgement.

A short distance behind Eileen Davis was her partner and trainee, Owen Nash. I’d seen Nash around town, but hadn’t spoken to him yet. He seemed a reserved but cautious sort, the kind who might make for a good Warden.

“This thing has been spitting out monsters for a couple hours now,” Davis said as she handed the crossbow to Nash, who immediately began reloading it. “Killing them myself is cheaper than placing a bounty, but…inconvenient.”

“A pain in the ass,” I said, nodding in agreement. Then I gestured to Nash. “But a good training opportunity.”

Davis laughed at that. “My old trainer used to say the same thing whenever he gave me the tasks he didn’t want to do.”

“Why else would you have trainees?” I asked with a chuckle. “Someone has to do the crap work, and seniority does have privileges.”

“He used to say that too,” Davis said as she watched me with a strange expression.

I shrugged and then bent down to pick up the bags I’d dropped during the excitement, hopefully, before Davis or anyone else saw what was inside them. From the look of amusement on Davis’ face, I suspected that I was too late.

“You know,” I said to change the direction. “I bet that if you drop some crates or rocks in front of that echo, you’d be able to keep any more of those furry little bastards from getting out until it closes.”

“That…is a great idea,” Davis said before abruptly turning away and calling out to her partner, “Hey Nash, I have a good training opportunity for you…”

I laughed at that as I continued on my way. Seniority definitely had its perks, but being retired meant that I didn’t have ANY of the responsibilities. Then again, retirement had been boring as hell.

After this, I dropped my bags off in my dorm room, then went to the Broken Yardarm to meet my team for lunch. It was a bit strange, actually thinking of them as being my team, but after we’d found the treasure box, they’d officially invited me to stay as a permanent member.

When I arrived at the diner, everyone else was already seated at a table. I came in just in time to hear Ace and Turtle enthusiastically debating the virtues of their weapons.

“But my sword can slice through monsters,” Turtle told Ace with a serious expression. “One good hit, and I can cut them in two. Or, I can drive it into them and get in deep.”

“Maybe,” Ace argued. “But I can blast the hell out of them with my scepters without having to get close. That makes them the superior weapon.”

“Are they?” I asked as I took a seat between Bunny and Turtle. “Scepters are useful, but they only hold a limited amount of power. That means, you can only use them a limited number of times before they need to be recharged.” I gave him a knowing look. “Unless you happen to have the right ability.”

“The same thing is true about guns,” Ace pointed out. “And nobody complains about needing to reload them.”

I just shrugged at that. “True, but guns are easier to reload. Just slip a new clip in and keep going.”

“You don’t need to worry about that with a sword,” Turtle stated.

“Swords definitely have their uses,” I agreed pleasantly. “But I’ll stick with my mace.”

Ace and Turtle both laughed at that. “That’s basically just hitting people with a club.”

“Oh, maces are definitely less sophisticated,” I agreed with a grin. “But they’re a hell of a lot easier to use if you don’t have a talent for swords. I mean, with a sword, you have to hit at the right angle if you actually want to cut, and they’re prone to chipping and dulling if you aren’t careful.” I paused at that. “A mace… Well, they’re easy to use. You just hit the target, no real skill or talent needed. You don’t need to worry about lining up the strike, and you don’t have to worry about losing the edge.”

“She does have a point,” Bunny said with a laugh. “Maces are probably an easier beginner weapon.”

Turtle hesitated for a moment before nodding agreement. “I can live with that.”

“Personally,” Olivia commented. “I prefer my staff.”

“But a staff is less weapon,” Ace pointed out, “and more like a giant battery.”

“A battery I can smack people with if needed,” Olivia said while giving Ace a pointed look.

“At least you have a weapon,” Bunny commented with a shrug. “I basically just throw rabbits at people.”

“Spicy rabbits,” Ace added with a grin.

“Why don’t you have a weapon?” I asked Bunny, more curious than anything.

Bunny shrugged. “I got a sword after I first respawned, but I ended up losing it.” She shrugged again. “I figured that it’s easier just to stand back and let my rabbits do the work.”

“It might not be a bad idea to get a scepter or something for yourself,” I suggested. “That way you’ll have a backup for when your rabbits are down, or…”

“Or something gets past them,” Olivia finished.

“And you might need to get some armor,” Turtle told me.

I nodded, unable to disagree with that. “One step at a time.”

Suddenly, an angry voice exclaimed, “None of you knows anything about a REAL weapon.”

I looked up and saw a woman standing beside the table. She was about my height but broad-shouldered and stocky, with skin that was a couple shades darker than my own. Her auburn hair was shoulder-length and a tangled mess. The woman was also holding a sledge hammer, one that looked like it had come straight from the hardware store.

“None of you pansies know anything about a real weapon,” the obviously drunk woman snarled, holding her sledge hammer up in front of Ace’s face.

“Leave us alone, Jace,” Turtle told the woman with a deep sigh.

“You think you’re special?” the woman, Jace snarled furiously, spittle flying as she did so. “Just because you got lucky in the Labyrinth.”

“We teamed with her,” Bunny leaned over and told me, her eyes locked on the woman. “Briefly.”

“Very briefly,” Olivia added with a scowl. “Fortunately.”

“I see,” I responded quietly before carefully sliding my chair back.

Turtle slowly stood up. “You’re drunk…”

“FUCK YOU,” Jace yelled before suddenly hitting Turtle.

Turtle flew halfway across the room and smashed into a table which collapsed under his weight. One of the customers who was sitting there was thrown back while food and bits of wood went flying like pieces of shrapnel.

I was immediately on my feet, reaching for the dagger on my belt, though I hesitated just shy of grabbing it. “Let’s take this outside,” I suggested, not taking my eyes off the angry woman.

That had been a powerful blow, revealing that this woman had placed a lot of stat points in strength. That also told me a lot about Jace and how she was likely to fight. Players who slotted all their points into strength tended to be very physical and straightforward in how they dealt with problems.

“SCREW YOU,” Jace snarled, swinging at Ace, who’d already scrambled back and out of her reach.

Jace grabbed the table and flung the whole thing over with casual ease. Then she kicked the closest chair, shattering it under the impact.

At this point, everyone in the diner was standing, with a couple of them reaching for weapons. I’d seen this kind of thing before and knew that the entire diner was likely to be destroyed within a minute. Rogue players were dangerous, and it became even more dangerous with each additional player who became involved.

“Lets take this outside,” I suggested again, hoping that we could save the diner. The food here was good.

Ace pulled out his scepters while Bunny stood back, summoning her rabbits. Olivia backed up, clutching onto her staff and looking as though she was tempted to attack, though she held off, probably for the same reason I was. She could see what was about to happen if things escalated any more.

“Damn it,” Turtle exclaimed as he got to his feet. He was covered in food and clearly pissed. Each step he took forward revealed that he was hurting, though that didn’t slow him down.

Turtle began to glow slightly as he used his ability, then he suddenly charged forward, grabbing Jace and practically carrying her to the door. Before Jace even seemed to realize what was going on, they were outside.

I reached the door a few seconds later and stepped out just in time to see Jace hitting Turtle with her sledge hammer. He was knocked back a good distance, but since he was still glowing, I expected that he wouldn’t be hurt too badly.

“NOW!” Bunny shouted.

Three horned rabbits all ran right at the drunk woman. At the same time, Ace and Olivia launched their own attacks, sending blasts of energy.

Jace dove to the side, avoiding Olivia’s blast as well as one of Ace’s, though she couldn’t avoid the rabbits who immediately changed direction. She kicked one of the rabbits, killing it instantly while her hammer came down on a second. Then, her eyes began to glow and she stomped the ground. A shockwave shot out from her, destroying the last rabbit and knocking Ace onto his ass.

I clutched my dagger firmly in hand, wishing that I’d brought my mace with me. A rogue player was no joke, even though we’d gotten her out of the Broken Yardarm, the situation was still in danger of escalating disastrously.

“Just like old times,” I muttered to myself, knowing what I had to do.

With that, I stepped forward, moving closer to the dangerous player. I couldn’t afford to waste my ability, so I made sure that I was close enough that I couldn’t miss. Only then did I blast her with an ‘Invocation of Spite’.

Jace howled in pain and staggered in place, but she didn’t go down. Instead, she stood there, her legs weak and wobbly as she shook. Blood dropped from her lips as she glared at me, her eyes glowing red. Her expression had become even more enraged than before.

“YOU BITCH,” Jace yelled before charging straight at me, her sledge hammer raised to strike as soon as I was in reach.

“MAGGIE,” Bunny shouted in horror.

I shifted position and waited for her to reach me, holding my dagger high as though I was going to try stabbing her in the face. Her attention was on my weapon, so she wasn’t prepared when I suddenly stepped forward and to the side, using my foot to trip her. As she began tilting forward, I kicked the back of her knee, making her fly forward face first into the ground.

I’d learned a long time ago that when you’re facing someone who is stronger, faster, and tougher than you, you had to rely on skill, leverage, and dirty tricks to win. This particular move was one that I’d used to take down more than one rogue player over the years, so it was kind of nostalgic to be able to use it again after so long.

A moment later, I was beside Jace with my dagger held to her throat. She froze at the feel of cold steel, especially when I drew a little bit of blood. After what she’d just pulled, I wanted her to feel that moment of fear as she realized that her life was a razor’s edge from ending.

“I’ve got her now,” Agent Davis called out as she ran up to us.

Davis had a scepter in her hand, and Nash, who followed right behind, held the crossbow, aimed at Jace. As soon as Davis reached us, she pointed the scepter at Jace and fired. Ther was a flash of green and Jace collapsed.

“Stun wand,” Davis called out, loud enough to reassure everyone nearby that she hadn’t just executed Jace on the spot. “She’ll be out for fifteen minutes.”

I nodded at that and stepped back, away from the now unconscious player, sheathing my dagger as I did so. However, I didn’t take my eyes off Jace, not fully trusting that she was out. I’d seen more than one player shrug off something that should have put them down. You never knew what abilities one of them…one of us might have.

“We’ll need help getting her into a cell before then,” Nash called out, looking around for volunteers.

“I’ll help,” Wolf offered as he stepped forward. He gave me a nod of appreciation, smiling faintly as he did so. “Nice takedown.”

“Yes,” Davis agreed, staring at me with a strange expression. “A very nice takedown.”

“Thanks,” I responded with a shrug.

Wolf picked up Jace and slung her over his shoulder, then marched off behind Nash. Davis remained behind.

“You know,” Davis told me once they were gone, “I’ve seen that move before.”

“Oh?” I replied casually.

Davis stared at me, then nodded. “Back in Warden training. They used to call that move the Upton sweep.”

“Really?” I asked, keeping my tone one of vague interest. “Imagine that.”