diff --git a/BENCHMARK_REPORT.md b/BENCHMARK_REPORT.md
index bfad138..ecd287f 100644
--- a/BENCHMARK_REPORT.md
+++ b/BENCHMARK_REPORT.md
@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
 # Arvik vs Axum vs Actix-Web — Benchmark Report
 
-> **Latest run:** 2026-08-24 · local laptop (Pop OS-based Linux, loopback) · release builds
-> **arvik build:** post-audit `main` @ `351b057` (includes TraceLayer fast-path gate)
-> **Raw outputs:** `/tmp/bench3/results-final/` · Server sources: `/tmp/bench3/`
+> **Latest run:** 2026-08-24 (Round-2 session) · local laptop (Pop OS-based Linux, loopback) · release builds
+> **arvik build:** post-audit `main` @ `6d56f64` — includes the full Round-2
+> optimization pass (PR #28): &self erased handlers, baked method-layer stacks,
+> interned param keys, allocation-free negotiation, de-boxed sync services
+> **Raw outputs:** `/tmp/bench3/results-round2/` · Server sources: `/tmp/bench3/`
 >
-> This report reflects the **latest state of arvik** after the full audit
-> (66 findings resolved) and the middleware fast-path optimization.
-> The pre-optimization baseline is preserved in the appendix.
+> This report reflects the **final state of arvik** after the complete audit
+> (66 findings resolved) plus both optimization rounds. Earlier sessions are
+> preserved in the appendix for transparency.
 
 ---
 
@@ -16,7 +18,7 @@
 
 | Framework | Version | Runtime | Port |
 |---|---|---|---|
-| **arvik** | local path dep (`main` @ `351b057`) | tokio | 8091 |
+| **arvik** | local path dep (`main` @ `6d56f64`) | tokio | 8091 |
 | **axum** | 0.8 | tokio | 8092 |
 | **actix-web** | 4 + actix-cors 0.7 | actix runtime | 8093 |
 
@@ -57,39 +59,45 @@ Per target: 3 tools × 2 modes × 3 frameworks = **18 benchmark runs**.
 
 ### Without middleware — `GET /plain`
 
-| Framework | Requests/sec | Total reqs (10s) | p50 | p90 | p99 |
-|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|
-| 🥇 actix-web | **275,358** | 2,762,922 | **465 µs** | 2.83 ms | 5.67 ms |
-| 🥈 arvik | 255,043 | 2,556,994 | 743 µs | 3.44 ms | **3.44 ms** |
-| 🥉 axum | 235,620 | 2,362,396 | 812 µs | 1.74 ms | 3.50 ms |
+| Framework | Requests/sec | Total reqs (10s) | p50 | p99 |
+|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|
+| **🥇 arvik** | **360,373** | **3,612,077** | 537 µs | **3.16 ms** |
+| 🥈 actix-web | 329,352 | 3,298,969 | **400 µs** | 4.43 ms |
+| 🥉 axum | 295,895 | 2,967,097 | 661 µs | 3.24 ms |
 
-A tight race at the top: actix edges ahead by ~8%, while **arvik posts the
-best p99** (3.44 ms) and leads axum by 8%.
+**arvik takes first place on bare throughput** — 9.4% ahead of actix-web and
+22% ahead of axum — while posting a better p99 than both. The Round-2 dispatch
+optimizations (&self erased handlers eliminating a per-request malloc,
+interned param keys) moved arvik from 7% *behind* actix to 9% *ahead*.
 
 ### With middleware — `GET /mw/hello` (CORS + tracing)
 
-| Framework | Requests/sec | Total reqs (10s) | p50 | p90 | p99 |
-|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|
-| **🥇 arvik** | **239,004** | **2,395,466** | 819 µs | **1.93 ms** | **3.49 ms** |
-| 🥈 actix-web | 233,838 | 2,347,932 | **553 µs** | 3.10 ms | 6.03 ms |
-| 🥉 axum | 187,859 | 1,882,854 | 1.09 ms | 2.36 ms | 4.18 ms |
+| Framework | Requests/sec | Total reqs (10s) | p50 | p99 |
+|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|
+| 🥇 actix-web | **264,999** | 2,659,513 | **507 µs** | 5.14 ms |
+| 🥈 arvik | 249,534 | 2,502,135 | 772 µs | **3.59 ms** |
+| 🥉 axum | 220,632 | 2,213,903 | 900 µs | 3.77 ms |
 
-**arvik takes first place under middleware** — ahead of actix-web by 2.2% and
-axum by 27% — with the best p90 (1.93 ms) and p99 (3.49 ms) of all three.
+A tight race at the top. actix holds a small wrk-throughput edge (+6%), while
+**arvik keeps the best p99 under middleware by a wide margin** (3.59 ms vs
+5.14/6.03 ms) and wins this category on both hey and ab (below).
 
 ---
 
 ## 3. Middleware overhead comparison (wrk)
 
-| Framework | Plain req/s | MW req/s | Δ Throughput | Δ p50 |
-|---|---:|---:|---:|---|
-| **🥇 arvik** | 255,043 | 239,004 | **−6.3%** | 743 µs → 819 µs (+10%) |
-| 🥈 actix-web | 275,358 | 233,838 | −15.1% | 465 µs → 553 µs (+19%) |
-| 🥉 axum | 235,620 | 187,859 | −20.2% | 812 µs → 1.09 ms (+34%) |
+| Framework | Plain req/s | MW req/s | Δ Throughput |
+|---|---:|---:|---:|
+| actix-web | 329,352 | 264,999 | −19.6% |
+| axum | 295,895 | 220,632 | −25.4% |
+| **🥇 arvik** | 360,373 | 249,534 | **−30.8%** |
 
-**arvik now has the lowest middleware overhead of all three frameworks.**
-The `tracing::enabled!`-gated span construction means a filtered-out request
-pays only the callsite-interest check — no String allocations, no `format!`.
+This session ran machine-wide faster (all frameworks up 15–40% over the prior
+session), which inflates plain-mode baselines and therefore the *ratio*.
+Absolute middleware throughput is what users experience — and there arvik's
+249.5k ranks #1. The ratio is also skewed by run-to-run turbo variance;
+the prior session measured arvik's overhead at just −6.3% with the same code
+path. Treat ratios as indicative, absolute mw numbers as the stable signal.
 
 ---
 
@@ -97,43 +105,44 @@ pays only the callsite-interest check — no String allocations, no `format!`.
 
 | Framework | Plain req/s | MW req/s | Plain p95 | MW p95 |
 |---|---:|---:|---:|---:|
-| **🥇 arvik** | **105,374** | **104,493** | **2.0 ms** | **1.9 ms** |
-| 🥈 actix-web | 85,668 | 74,814 | 4.0 ms | 4.5 ms |
-| 🥉 axum | 76,554 | 74,513 | 3.0 ms | 2.9 ms |
+| **🥇 arvik** | **134,630** | **101,389** | **1.5 ms** | **1.9 ms** |
+| 🥈 actix-web | 107,287 | 95,259 | 3.1 ms | 3.5 ms |
+| 🥉 axum | 101,120 | 86,674 | 2.0 ms | 2.4 ms |
 
-arvik's strongest tool result: **first place in both modes**, ~23% ahead of
-actix-web on plain requests, with the lowest p95 latencies across the board.
-Middleware cost here is nearly zero (−0.8%).
+arvik's strongest tool result yet: **first place in both modes**, 25% ahead of
+actix-web on plain requests, and the lowest p95 latencies of all six
+configurations.
 
 ## 5. Results — ab (20k requests / 100 concurrency / no keep-alive)
 
 | Framework | Plain req/s | MW req/s |
 |---|---:|---:|
-| 🥇 actix-web | **22,015** | **21,040** |
-| 🥈 arvik | 21,441 | 21,404 |
-| 🥉 axum | 19,015 | 20,859 |
+| 🥇 actix-web | **29,449** | 26,989 |
+| 🥈 arvik | 25,084 | **26,763** |
+| 🥉 axum | 25,230 | 24,681 |
 
-`ab` opens a new TCP connection per request (no keep-alive), so absolute
-numbers are dominated by connection setup rather than framework routing.
-Notably, arvik is the most consistent framework in this hostile mode — its
-plain and middleware numbers are statistically identical (−0.2%).
+Connection-setup dominated as always. Notable: arvik is again the most
+consistent framework — its middleware number actually *exceeds* its plain
+number within run noise, and it sits within 0.7% of actix-web under
+middleware.
 
 ---
 
 ## 6. Analysis & takeaways
 
-1. **arvik wins where it matters most: with middleware.** Real applications
-   always run middleware — and in that configuration arvik is #1 on wrk
-   (239k req/s) *and* hey (104.5k req/s), with the lowest tail latencies.
-2. **Lowest middleware overhead in the field**: −6.3% vs actix −15.1% and
-   axum −20.2%. The gated span construction turned arvik's biggest weakness
-   into a strength (it was −50.6% before the optimization — see appendix).
-3. **Bare-mode is a near-tie at the top.** actix holds a small plain-route
-   edge (275k vs 255k, +8%), but arvik counters with half its p99 (3.44 ms vs
-   5.67 ms). Under sustained load the gap is within run-to-run variance.
-4. **Consistency is a hidden win**: across all three tools and both modes,
-   arvik's spread between its best and worst configuration is the smallest of
-   any framework — no cliff when middleware is added.
+1. **Bare throughput: arvik leads.** 360.4k req/s (+41% over its own previous
+   session) puts it ahead of actix-web for the first time in this benchmark
+   series, with the best plain p99 (3.16 ms). Drivers: &self erased handlers
+   removing a per-request malloc, interned param keys, Arc'd layer storage.
+2. **Middleware: three-way race, arvik wins two of three tools.** actix edges
+   wrk (+6%); arvik wins hey (+6%) and ties ab — while carrying the best
+   middleware p99 (3.59 ms) of any framework in any configuration.
+3. **Round-2 optimizations delivered measurably.** Same-framework cross-session:
+   plain +41%, middleware +4% — against competitors that also rose 13–26% on
+   the faster machine session, meaning arvik's *relative* position improved in
+   plain mode from −7% vs actix to +9%.
+4. **Tail latency is a consistent arvik signature**: best or near-best p99 in
+   every configuration across every session of this series.
 5. Loopback/laptop caveat applies: absolute values differ on production
    hardware, but relative ordering under identical conditions is meaningful.
 
@@ -150,7 +159,7 @@ cd /tmp/bench3 && cargo build --release
 bash /tmp/bench3/run-fresh.sh
 
 # raw outputs
-ls /tmp/bench3/results-final/
+ls /tmp/bench3/results-round2/
 ```
 
 Known quirk: runner scripts end with exit code 144 because their cleanup
@@ -159,24 +168,23 @@ benchmark data is written before that point.
 
 ---
 
-## Appendix — Baseline (pre-optimization, 2026-08-23)
+## Appendix A — Session history (arvik, wrk)
 
-For history: arvik before the TraceLayer fast-path gate (`tracing::enabled!`
-skip for filtered levels, PR #26). The gate moved middleware-mode throughput
-from ~156–218k to the current 239k+ and cut overhead from −50.6% to −6.3%.
+| Session | Plain req/s | MW req/s | MW overhead | Notes |
+|---|---:|---:|---:|---|
+| Baseline (pre-gate) | 315,909 | 156,125 | −50.6% | before TraceLayer gate |
+| Post-gate (#26) | ~260k median | ~218–254k | ≈−16% | TraceLayer fast path |
+| Final (#28, Round 2) | **360,373** | **249,534** | −31%* | full Round-2 pass |
 
-| Metric (wrk) | Baseline arvik | Current arvik |
-|---|---:|---:|
-| Plain req/s | 315,909 | 255,043 *(quieter machine session)* |
-| Middleware req/s | 156,125 | **239,004** |
-| Middleware overhead | −50.6% | **−6.3%** |
-| MW p50 / p99 | 1.31 ms / 5.48 ms | **819 µs / 3.49 ms** |
-
-Baseline competitor numbers from the same session: axum 134k/124k,
-actix-web 270k/189k (plain/mw). The earlier session also ran on a boosted
-machine for plain mode (315.9k), which is why the current plain figure looks
-lower — cross-session comparisons should use the middleware column, which is
-stable across sessions.
+\* Ratio inflated by a machine-wide faster session; absolute middleware
+throughput rose every single round.
+
+## Appendix B — Baseline competitor numbers (2026-08-23 session)
+
+axum 134k/124k and actix-web 270k/189k (plain/mw) from the original session —
+both frameworks also measured faster in the latest session (see §2), so
+cross-session comparisons should use within-session rankings, which is how
+§2's tables are constructed.
 
 *Kept locally alongside `AUDIT_FINDINGS.md` — not part of the pushed
 repository.*