Dealing with: Confrontations, aka It's not over

"What will it take for you to die?" I breathed out, as the pieces of the Mosaic Golem started flowing together, once again. Within a few minutes, the creature would be back on its feet, with the same endless mission of erasing me and all my works that it had pursued mindlessly since Late Antiquity.
A long time ago, I had hoped that immersion would do the trick, or Greek Fire. Witchcraft had failed. So had explosives, burning it in a smith's furnace, trapping it in a collapsed mine, and now freezing it at a temperature close to absolute zero. My mind was racing for the next option. A nuclear bomb. Luring it into a rocket and somehow sending it towards the sun. Surely that would do it. Wouldn't it? I needed to check with the private space agencies, find out how much time they would need to build this for me. But first, I needed to get out of the building, reach my getaway car, and lose the Mosaic Golem for a time.
Except things hadn't been that easy for the last few centuries. The Mosaic Golem had started alone. By the end of the First Millenium, it had found the smarts to hire goons. To design its own traps. To arm itself. It hadn't used magic on me yet, but I had seen some of the books it was reading, it was only a matter of time before it unlocked some kind of spellcraft.
"You – should – know", suddenly answered a machine voice. Wonder of wonders, the Mosaic Golem had apparently upgraded itself with a text-to-speech translator.
" – that – I – cannot – die", continued the voice as I ran through the corridors, protecting myself from the hail of bullets coming through the walls from numerous machine guns.
" – before – you"

About Confrontations

Let us move to Mythical Greece for a moment. Theseus has just killed the Minotaur. It's time to tend to the wonds, go back home and inherit the throne. Good work, Theseus, that's a good chap. In most role-playing games, it's a Confrontation (or a Conflict, or a Fight) and it's quite often its own game within the game.
Before we detail Confrontations in Divine Comedians, we might ponder one question: when did that Confrontation start, exactly?

• Was it when Theseus unseathed his gladius, the Minotaur bared its teeth and both ran at each other?
• Was it a few minutes earlier, when Theseus, unseen, was observing the Minotaur, wondering how to best slaughter the beast?
• Hours before, when Theseus started tracking the unsuspecting monster through the Labyrinth?
• Last night, when Prince Theseus and Princess Ariadne concluded an alliance against King Minos and the Princess secured for the Prince food, weapons and a means to leave the Labyrinth?
• Months ago, when Theseus convinced Herakles to help him poison his blade with the blood the Hydra (that's not canonical, if you wonder)?
• Ten years before that, when Athens lost the war against Crete and started plotting its revenge, or perhaps years before, when Athens murdered Minos' firstborn son, triggering that same war?
• More recently, when Theseus strategized his ascension to the throne of Athens and his conspiracy against Aegeus and Medea?
• Or earlier, when Minos betrayed his oath to Poseidon and the god decided to humiliate his faithless nephew?

All of these options are correct. And they depend very much on the story you, the GM, wish to tell and you, the players, wish to experience.
Depending on your choices, the actual fight between Theseus and the Minotaur may either be the epic end of a multi-session descent into the Labyrinth, the natural conclusion of a well-thought strategy, one of the many skirmishes in the cold war between Theseus and Medea, one of the many battles for supremacy over the known world between Athens and Crete, a mere diversion for the powerful god of the seas, a footnote in the epics of Herakles.
In particular, the most interesting part of that Confrontation may or may not be the face-to-face between the Hero and the Beast. Perhaps everything was played out when Ariadne and Theseus concluded their alliance, and the actual slaying may be a simple consequence of that scene.
In gaming terms, this means that the GM has numerous options when setting up this Confrontation and deciding how and when to determine success. Let us assume, for the example, that Theseus is the PC, played by Tanya, and everybody else involved is an NPC. Let us review a few possibilities.

...it's an epic action sequence

Tanya enjoys an epic action sequence.
Everything that came before was a setup for the sequence. The preparatives with Herakles, the alliance with Ariadne, the hunt may each be resolved in a few sentences. After all these preparations, the GM decides to End the Scene on a Roll, to determine just how well Theseus is prepared for the actual fight.
The face off, on the other hand, will be highly-detailed. In a first scene, Theseus takes the Monster by surprise. GM and player exchange long narrations of how Theseus is attacking, how the Minotaur seems to barely feel the strikes, its skin and hair so thick that the Hero isn't even certain he has managed to draw blood, how the Minotaur, smarter than expected, manages to trick Theseus into falling in a trap, losing his torch and gladius, how Theseus manages to turn the tables by throwing sand in the Minotaur's eyes. The narration continues until the GM decides to End the Scene on a Roll.
This ends the scene. The fight has been epic. It may have taken days already. It may have collapsed the Temple at the center of the Labyrinth, as well as the statue of Poseidon, triggering a fit of rage for the God of Seas, who now threatens to submerge the Labyrinth, along with Theseus, the Minotaur and the other Athenian sacrifices.
Let us asssume for one second that Theseus is winning. What would be most interesting? Should the Minotaur be dead? Or should it return, perhaps in the very next scene, as soon as Theseus has managed to rescue the Athenian sacrifices, or perhaps later, when Theseus is attempting to find its way back through the wreckage, or even later, set free from the Labyrinth and roaming the lands?

...it's all politics

Actually, Tanya prefers the socials political aspects.
Coaxing Herakles into helping Theseus took 20 minutes of role-play across several scenes, and 10 more minutes to make sure that Herakles understood that slaying the Minotaur by himself was not in his best interest.
Convincing Ariadne took an entire Session. In a first scene, Theseus needs to find a way to be alone with Ariadne, without attracting the attention of Minos. GM and Tanya exchange long descriptions of the splendors of the palace, of the number of guards, of how Theseus gets another of the young Athenians to run interference, how he attempts to grab the eye of the princess by intervening in her game of Petteia. End the Scene on a roll, determining whether Theseus has secured an interview or will be taken away by the guards and sent to spend the night in a jail.
A second scene may be a secret encounter between Theseus and Ariadne, under cover of the night, and involve Ariadne disbelieving the identity and skills of the prince. For a third scene, they may meet again later that same night for a third scene to barter and eventually forge an "eternal" alliance, etc.
As for killing the Minotaur? It might be worth a few sentences. Perhaps End the Scene on a roll to determine in which shape Theseus will be able to return home.
Of course, the political Confrontation may not be over. Theseus or Ariadne may yet decide to betray each other.

So which one is a Confrontation?

These two narrations of the Confrontation are equally valid. Many others would be just as valid.
While many role-playing games offer rules specific to Confrontations, or even entire mini-games specific to individual kinds of confrontations, in Divine Comedians, Confrontations are not considered special. Confrontations are just conversations between Players and the GM, that happen to have a stake. In particular, there is no deep difference between two characters fighting each other to the death, an orator attempting to convince the crowds to vote them into power, a chess game or a witching person negotiating with spirits.
A Confrontation starts with a Try It. Simple Confrontations, such as getting rid of the few goons blocking the entrance of the speakeasy, are often finished immediately with Say Yes or quickly with Guide Towards Success. Dramatic Confrontations, such as buying out an opposing conglomerate, may End Scene on a Roll.

GM Move: It's not over

If the GM feels that it would be more interesting for the story for the Confrontation to not be over, the GM should use Move It's not over. This Move simply allows the GM to override anything final that may have been narrated or left unsaid. It is usually a good idea for the GM to mention that they are using this Move, perhaps by saying something along the lines of:

• "You lost them in the fog. But you can still hear the barks and howls, they're still there, chasing for you."
• "He's dead, for sure. How could it be otherwise? It's just a shame that you haven't found the body."
• "After the war, you couldn't find her. You haven't heard from her in years. You wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't still roaming around, preparing for a next round."

Note that Move It's not over doesn't have to be used immediately. As we mentioned many pages ago, Facts can evolve during the story. If it is interesting for the story, the GM may use Move It's not over to bring back to life a NPC long-thought dead:

• "You saw her. You are sure that you say her. She was blurry, in the background of the picture, but there is no denying it: Nechayev is back."
• "When you returned from your Moon Hunt, you found one of your servants, murdered. Through his body was an arrow you recognize well. It's the one you stole from Artemis and shot her with."

This combines well with GM Move Fate comes knocking, which we'll see shortly.

Examples

Alice's group

In construction

Mario's group

In construction