The music swelled, ominous and bombastic in the finest traditions of the genre.

Ah, the joys of diegesis.

"It happens. It's not something you or anyone here did wrong." Phoenix willed Fafnir to the fore, its suite of Auto skills shimmering into existence around the assembled party.

And for good measure, the dragon roared, casting the aura of Limelight around its summoner.

The stage is set. All eyes on me.

"You've both had beef with me since the very beginning, I'll bet. Old wounds never really heal, right?" Falcon remembered the operation. The hacking. He probably even remembered the paint bomb.