"You're what?" T-Bone yells.

The crowd roars. The AI ref does not flag it—because technically, an enemy shot the Slug. Marco exploited the rulebook's own logic. Match Three: The Last Stronghold (Sudden Death, no AI assistance—pure human referees).

"No," Eri insists. "They're not just cheating. They're going to own the rulebook. Starting next week, any 'unconventional' tactic—like your Knuckle Brace Dive—will be flagged as an exploit and penalized. They're rewriting the meta to make Hades unbeatable."

Marco looks at his dusty arcade stick. On the wall behind him hangs a framed photo of the original Fatals lineup: himself, Eri, the heavy weapons specialist (now a truck driver), and the rookie who replaced him, Fio "Fiver" Germi (now a Hades Division sub).

The Iron Lizard explodes. Four members of Hades Division are eliminated in a single frame.