The War Guild was a group of individuals who wanted nothing less than pure chaos, regardless of consequences, they were all united by that fact. When they got into The Ark Organization they found it suffocating, especially compared to some of their other guild mates on more wild or magical planets, so they escaped, all six of them. They planned to make some fun, become famous, and manipulate things to cause more trouble from behind the scenes. They even received a different mission, being factionless, they were to strive for peace, or keep the war going until everyone else was gone. Being literally called The War Guild, they knew what they wanted to do even if it seemed monumental, but then Lapis arrived, along with his group. They could run from those players, and maybe even Gareth, but not Ultima.

They decided to jump Amber, and blow up the ring, if they were going to be caught, they would at least go out with a bang. Their experience continued to climb together, since they all planned this. Amber was being held by two of them, one holding a gun to her head, she struggled, but the system informed her that she was beginning to run out of energy. She had to stop, glaring at the group of four chaotic evil players.

Alex stepped through the flames, coming into the heart of the fire, the stands were slowly turning to charcoal and ash, in the middle of the place was a ring that held five people, including Amber. Every single one of the other players had the exact same costume, just like the other two. 

"You four! Let go of her, and come with me! You are all being placed under arrest for treason!" he began to approach, his eyes burning red. The one holding the pistol pressed it closer to Amber "Stop! Keep moving and she'll get it!" Amber looked at the player, while she was scared a little, she would just revive. All the NPCs knew they would, so how would that stop him? Why did he stop?

Alexander stopped in his approach, staring at them. Amber growled "Alex what the hell are you doing? I'll just revive!" she said, annoyed by the NPC stopping at the threat. Alexander stared at her though, his mind took in a lot of things, mainly that she was shaking despite her yelling. He knew she wasn't all that scared in this moment, but she was helpless, and about to be executed, this would only be further fuel for nightmares. 

"That's right, I know your fears you stupid ***" the one holding the gun said, War On Society laughed "You care about your Lightform companions right? What a sap! Aren't you supposed to be neutral? Ha!" he said. 

Alex glared "Regardless of immortality, I don't let my companions die, I regret what I did" He admitted "Hand her over, or else" he said. 

War On Society chuckled "Yeah? What are you going to do? We all know your orders, you can't use that stupid burst whatever, and I know even if you unleash your other power, you still won't be quick enough to stop me. Now, you know I mean it, so you're going to let us leave" he said, beginning to move.

There was a sudden sound of something cracking. War On Society stopped in his tracks, slowly lifting a hand to his throat, but he was forcefully logged out before he could, receiving a message his character was both 'unconscious' and 'paralyzed' as it happened. 

Alex dropped the knocked out player and caught Amber as she fell out of his hold before quietly setting her down. He took a deep breath, Rainbow Smoke coming off of him, his eyes looked positively angry. "Not a word to Gareth" he growled, his four pupils contracting and thinning "About...this Amber, got it?" he said.

One of the other three opened his mouth to say something, but was shut up by War On Society's pistol hitting his chest, cracking something before Ultima appeared behind him, hitting him in the spine, also paralyzing and knocking the player out.

Amber watched as the last two tried to run, which proved fruitless when Ultima grabbed one and threw him at the other, they both hit the ground just before he stomped on each one's head, using just enough strength to knock them out. Ultima took a deep breath, seconds had passed since he suddenly moved, and now, Alex could hear a notification just before he fell asleep, collapsing.

Amber had recorded everything, and slowly sat down, beginning to shake while she posted it. The other three arrived, Gareth picked up Alexander "He's out cold, Amber, what happened with him?" he asked her. Amber hesitated a moment "He, pushed himself, it wasn't quite his, thing, but, he pushed himself. Something about, he wouldn't let me die, stupid of him really" she muttered, sighing as she got up. 

Gareth carried Alex out of the still burning building, along with the players each carrying two people apiece, dragging them out. The medical teams were busy, so getting away was easy. The War Guild was all tied up, and they quickly left on the boat. 

Alexander was still out cold as the players all sighed "I need some sleep" they each say to some effect, before logging off.

Gareth wasn't stupid, he knew what Alex did, but he wouldn't berate him. He saved Amber, he probably would've just told him to move in anyway since she would revive. It was strange how he considered her life to be valuable, when it really wasn't. Gareth sighed and looked at the sleeping solider, who was deeply sleeping on the boat. He also looked to the six rebels, this mission seemed all too easy to him, he saw their wounds, they were brutal, and he suspects many of them were specifically done to knock them out, but not kill them.

The level of control Alex had was remarkable, but he was now aware, the silent and stoic soldier he thought he knew was a man, one who wouldn't let a single one of his companions die. He may enjoy being terrifying, or maybe he just felt better opening up around him and the three others, but at the end of the day he'd protect them. It wasn't a bad thing, and he would forget to tell the higher ups what happened here.

"This just in, the hidden NPC of Reality Dive strikes yet again! Two hours ago, a group of close individuals admitted themselves to the hospital, each one said the same thing, they engaged in a fight with Ultima, and after he knocked their avatars unconscious they woke up unable to move, because they couldn't feel their body. After several minutes they realized they could continue to move despite not feeling anything, and quickly called 911. All four people are being monitored, and two individuals, one who fought Ultima as well but did not experience the same outcome, and another who fought another player, have also come forth as being part of this group" A news anchor talked a mile a minute, while Amber watched the news, blinking and shuddering at the idea, did, Alex do this? 

"Unlike before, Reality Entertainment has chosen to comment on this behavior. They say that their game should not be able to cause such severe psychological damage, or physical pain and such. They've launched a deep investigation they say, and will begin to do work to fix this issue, if there even is one to be fixed. The executive producer Steve Harrison has said that if he needs to, in light of actual people being hurt, he will gladly patch out or kill an NPC if it means fixing the problem" Seeker sat up quickly when this was said, shaking, he bit his lip as the news anchor continued speaking.

"His words have people brewing, as just recently a group calling themselves The NPC Rights Group has come forward, declaring that the NPCs of this game are far too real, and that Steve Harrison has no right to 'kill' them. They are a minority, but a loud one, despite the damage that Ultima has caused, he has caused no actual deaths in anyone who has been attacked by him. On the other hand, more groups are forming in support of Steve's words, fully fine with killing off a character to preserve the safety of gaming individuals" The news anchor sighed after finishing, Lapis stared at the screen in shock as he hugged his sister tightly.

"I, can't believe there would be a day where we are actually debating if a virtual person has reached sentience" the news anchor muttered "Well folks! We will keep you updated on this story as new facts and such come in!" they said, quickly transitioning into the weather.

Hours later, Alex slowly opened his eyes, facing up towards a starry sky. He slowly sat up, before hissing in pain, but he continued to lift himself until he stood, gripping the railing to try and not fall over from the rocking boat. He looked around, Gareth, Amber, Seeker, and Lapis were all asleep. The six rebels were tightly wound up on the boat as well, all together, still in their costumes.

He sighed, turning to look at the moon, holding down his stomach, he felt weak, and tired. Maybe he should sleep more, but he had to get up, see what the damage was to himself, he braced himself before opening up his status menu.

Good news, it wasn't as bad as he thought, bad news, it was still bad. He sat down, staring especially at the shattered status he had, his...hypnosis was gone? He looked around at everyone on the boat before chuckling, which hurt a little. That may be gone, but like hell he'd be leaving this group. He laid back down, closing his eyes again as the window closed. His head ached, but he quelled the rising thoughts he had, focusing on his breathing, and relaxing. Soon he fell back into a very deep sleep, unaware of the problems happening in the real world.