NARRATIVE TEXT:

“Heheh... hahah... hah... hahhhhhhhhh.”

With one final laugh, Pied collapsed to the floor. Barely any of his actual model was left intact, the frail wireframe mesh underneath exposed to the elements.

He didn't get back up.

The Kingslayers, relieved, allowed their collective adrenaline to peter out as the toll of battle washed over them; sans Gabe, they were all heavily wounded.

They had defeated Pied.

“Yeah... that's right...” Jason panted, leaning on his bat for stability “Stay down, chuckles...”

“You think you've won....?” Pied gargles, his voice distorted; what was left of his textures had begun to crumble, forming physical, grey rubble and dust. “This is a temporary setback at most.”

“You villain types never stop talking, do you?” Hermes groaned, shifting back into his mortal form as his legs buckled. “Face it; you're beat.”

“The Brave Herts thought much the same. So did the Developers.” Pied chuckled, “But I come back, cretins. I always come back.”

With the remaining strength he could muster, Pied broke out into one final round of raucous laughter, growing gradually more distorted until it became nothing more then a hellish screech; his wireframe, too, had begun to crumble into a tangible pile of debris, growing in size until the sound finally ceased.

“Finally.” Gabe sighed, stretching his arms. “I was getting a touch fatigued.”

“Ever the thoughtful one, aren't you?” Howard droned, with a look that suggested he wanted to hit the blonde very, very hard.

“That's it, right? No more player deaths?” Yuna asked, eyes on Renzo.

“Correct,” Renzo said, nodding. “I'm still not sure how the Pied program managed to give Kain the ability to do what he was doing, but he won't be passing that ability onto anybody else. For now, anyway.”

“'For now'?” Jason asked, eyebrow cocked.

“He's right; he does keep coming back.” Renzo said, dejectedly. “The original developers of the Saint J92000 supercomputer, the 103rd Corporation... whatever they did when they created Pied, they went above and beyond. He's unlike any sentient program I or any of the other Administrators have ever encountered.”

“True as that may be, the guys in pieces right now. Literally.” Rya chimed in. “He's not going to be bothering anyone for a while.”

“Perhaps. But we can't just leave him unguarded.” Renzo replied.

“What do you suggest, then?” Howard said. “Surely there's something you eggheads can figure out.”

Renzo looked lost in thought for a moment. “... Probably. But I wouldn't be privy to it; not now. I cut myself off to be here; stepped down from my position. I can't return to the outside world, now.”

Sean grit his teeth angrily. “What a load of rubbish. How's that any fair?”

“It isn't.” Renzo flatly responded, the weight of the words hitting everyone in tandem. “But it was the choice I made; nobody forced me in here. I knew I'd be of better help in here- and I can be of greater help still.”

Renzo strode forwards, standing in front of the pile of debris that was once their aggressor. For the first- and only- time, he activated what appeared to be a debug menu, suspended in the air like a hologram in front of him, typing commands directly into it; as he did, a wireframe cage began to form around the pile- and as it did, Renzo shut down the interface and strode over to the throne, taking his seat upon it.

His intent was clear; he was to stay here and keep watch over Pied, for as long as he could.

“It'll be awful lonely out here, now.” Yuna said, wistfully. “Folks prolly won't wanna set foot here for a while.”

“I'm sure I can make my own fun.” Renzo chuckled, a slight, genuine smile on his lips.

“You're a brave man, Renzo.” Howard said, earnestly. “Thank you. Sincerely.” His thanks given, he spun on his heel, heading towards the door.

“Whoa whoa, hang on a sec,” Gabe called, briskly walking to catch up. “What's got you in a rush?”

“Forgot already, did you? We've got clan members back in town that were pretty roughed up; reckon they could do with a friendly face whilst the Administrators work their magic.”

“... Yeah. Yeah, you're right.” Gabe nodded, turning back to the rest of the team. “I'm willing to bet the rest of you have 'prior engagements' to return to, yes?”

“I'm afraid so.” Rya said, dusting herself down. “We lost a good team member to Kain's forces. My team and I are hoping to hold a vigil for him.”

“And my crew and this'un's-” Sean paused, gesturing at Hermes- “have a score to settle. Though it can wait, if the lad's not up to it.”

Hermes smirked. “Any time, any place. Just say the word.”

Yuna turned to Renzo. “Kain had nobody left to mourn him, did he?”

“No; he and the Queen of Joy worked as a lone duo.” Renzo replied, curious.

“Then I'll do the honours, and erect a monument for him or... something.” Yuna said, eyes steeling over. “Don't get me wrong, he did some awful stuff- my entire squad is gone because of him- but... I can't say I don't feel a little sorry for him. You've gotta hurt real bad to do what he did.”

“Suit yourself, miss.” Jason shrugged, strolling over to the door himself. “Me? I've got worlds to visit and levels to grind.”

Renzo's smile saddened, slightly, but remained earnest. “I cannot thank each and every one of you enough... without your help, things could have been so much worse.”

“Hey, hey, no need to be so dour, your maj!” Jason said, turning back from the doorway with a cheeky smile. “Tomorrow's a new day; a whole new chance to start over and make things better.”

“Good grief, what are they teaching you in schools these days?” Howard snarked, as he and Gabe pushed past, walking down the hall. Jason jogged behind, their banter fading into the background.

“Hey, I'm head chef at a classy joint when I'm not here, y'know!”

“... What?”

Hermes and Sean shared a good natured handshake, before taking their turn to depart. It was clear that though the rivalry between the two wasn't as intense as before, old habits do indeed die hard.

“Well, then... this is me, I suppose.” Rya said, turning back to Renzo. “Thank you, too. Y'know, for helping us out... can't have been easy to walk away from your position for good like that.”

Renzo chuckled. “It was the easiest choice I ever made.”

Rya smiled in return, before taking her leave. Yuna waited for her to depart, before walking up to Renzo.

“What is it, Ms. Itoh?” Renzo asked, before she gently took one of his hands, and placed something in it; when he looked, he saw an Omamari charm.

“It's a Yakuyoke talisman, if you're wondering. Oughta help keep you safe from that jokester if he tries anything.”

Renzo looked up at her with appreciative eyes. “You'd give me something so important?”

Yuna winked. “No worries; any good ghost hunter keeps plenty of these in stock. B'sides... it seemed wrong to leave without giving you a Christmas present.”

That's right; it had gone past midnight. Today was Christmas day; in the chaos, he'd completely forgotten. He assumed everyone else had, to.

“... Thank you, Yuna.”

Yuna smiled. “You're welcome.” Finally, she too took her leave, strolling over towards the door. Without turning back, she said; “I promise to visit, when I can. So you're not so alone out here. 'Til then, prince.”

She disappeared into the hallway before Renzo could reply. He looked down at the charm in his hands for a few moments, before pocketing it, as he reclined into a more relaxed position.

A brand new day, huh? Another chance to make things better?

Renzo smiled once more. He'd never felt so lucky to see the dawn.

---

IN-CHARACTER TRACK COMMENTARY FROM GONKAKA:

Fumie Saso: Given the more dramatic and melancholy themes of the story this go around, I thought a slower piece would work for the credits. I had intended it to sound a bit sadder initially, but the key the song wound up in sounds more “nostalgic” to me; the sound of reminiscing more then mourning. Though I suppose, mourning doesn't really have to be sad or morose, right? Remembering a lost loved one can be quite a jubilant, if sedate thing. I know I found that to be the case when my maternal grandfather passed not long after the game's launch- I was sad he was gone, but I found myself remembering all the good times we shared more. It was an interesting experience with grief, and I feel this song somehow predicted what I would feel and captured it.

Denji Koshiro: I can really feel what you mean in that final section, with the stacked chords and the implementation of the Kingslayer motif. By the way- how did you manage to recreate the exact dynamics and modulations from the intro song so perfectly?!

Shinji Namiki: I was wondering that myself.

(Fumie simply shrugs, pulling an exaggerated “I dunno!” expression; the boys laugh)

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DECON'S TRACK COMMENTARY:

Don't really have a whole lot of commentary to add to this'un- partially because my brain's been shit the last couple of days, and partially because the song itself is... fairly self explanitory! The one thing I can say is that this song puts an idea to bed I've had for quite some time: the excellent Staff Roll music from Capcom vs. SNK 2, composed by Satoshi Ise, has been on my "inspiration playlist for battlemania projects" shortlist since the first album's completetion. I knew I wanted something that sort of matched the vibe for the follow up; my first attempt fell a bit flat and I started over, initially intending to go in a different direction (much to my disappointment), but I found myself gravitating back to this concept and managing to make it work.

This is the last "full length" song for the project; all that remains are a couple of short-ish loops and a sting, and it's done. Feels surreal after working on the album for so long.

This song contains samples from Break In [Transatlantic Move Mix] and Nassau, both by Cirrus.