"GRRRRRRAAAH!"

Katniss punched the dummy again, striking it squarely in the abdomen.

The martial artists seemed to have bonded well. They were always complimenting each other's forms, demonstrating complex techniques, telling stories of their fabled battles. It was a bro-fest with more talk of honor, and less sugary beverages. Katniss didn't care. They were someone else to talk to, even if it was about how she had 'telegraphed that haymaker too much'.

"You telegraphed that haymaker too much," said Ryu, sitting on a bench nearby.

"Do you think I care?" growled Katniss, massaging her hand.

"You wanted me to teach you, didn't you?"

She rolled her eyes and attacked the dummy again.

"That anger of yours… you had better learn to manage it."

"Why? I fight better like that. When you're cornered, you survive by fighting your way out. It's instinct."

"In your last battle, while fighting your second opponent, did you notice anything about your attacks?"

Katniss stopped punching the dummy.

"Yeah. They were stronger. I don't think I normally hit like that."

"And did you feel anything unusual?"

"That Tris girl… I don't know what, but when she told me that she knew, she read my life story… I just wanted to kill her."

"Partially that could be attributed to the environment of the Grand Combat. When we're here to fight, and everyone comes back, fighting to kill becomes a less extreme act. But it feeds a dark part of your soul. You experienced the Satsui no Hado, the wave of the desire to kill. Ansatsuken was created to channel this desire to unlock ki attacks. You fight with almost animalistic instinct. This serves the Hado well. Unfortunately, it corrupts easily. You must learn to fight without anger, or that anger will consume you."

"Fine then," Katniss said. "But if I fight –him- again, I can make you no promises."

"Worry less about making promises to me. You will be the one that regrets what happens."

Katniss decided that she had listened to enough metaphysical mumbo-jumbo for one day. She stormed off toward her room. Ryu got up from the bench and examined the dummy. Under the soft surface, it was riddled with dents.

"That doesn't sound like a very practical art to me," said Kenshiro, sipping a glass of water. "Why use anger when ki can be channeled with purity or willpower?"

"Whatever happened to just punching people?" moaned Chuck, roundhouse kicking his own dummy.

Twilight ambled into her room, hopping on to her bed. Her guest was bound to arrive any minute now.

Holly Short… how far down that path have you walked? How much has it seeped into your soul, for you to simply obey like that? Are you too far gone to think about your friend? And have you also forgotten that there are those who care for you that aren't here?

A hissing sound filled the room, accentuated by a muffled scream and the sound of heavy wings flapping in the night.

"Ah," said Twilight, unfazed. "You've made it."

The man rose up through the floor, his body procedurally becoming tangible. He adjusted his hat, and slipped his gloved hands into his overcoat's pockets.

"This had better be good."

"I didn't want for it to come to this," said Twilight apologetically. "But I'm afraid things have gotten out of hand. We need to locate Holly in the next round. She needs… detox."

"And you came to me for that? I guarantee I will put her in far worse shape than whatever it is-"

"No, I came to you for a hired gun."

"How dreary."

"I'm sorry to reduce you to that, Mr. Alucard."

"It could be worse. I am enjoying all of the killing there is to be had around here, but that won't keep me occupied forever. I'll get cabin fever like anyone else. I will help your operation here, if only for my own gain."

"I'm glad you're so upfront about it."

"When you're an immortal specter driven by bloodlust, you become quite frank. What does your blood taste like?"

"I'm not going to answer that."

Alicard found it wise to change the subject.

"Have you noticed, Ms. Sparkle," he said, gesturing to the air above him. "Those invisible chains? Binding us?"

"It is the second magical phenomena I have discovered in this Nexus. The Limit. From the dossier I was given, I assumed you were affected by it as well."

"Even I am not sure what I am still capable of. Do you think breaking it is possible?"

"Possible, not probable. Goodbye, Mr. Alucard," said Twilight, giving a courteous bow.

"I shall see you again soon," said the vampire, slipping into the floor again.

"Eyeuuuughhh," whimpered Twilight. "That guy gives me the creeps. But if the higher-ups say so…" She lay down on her bed, but decided she would not be sleeping for a while.

The darkness seemed to splatter around her, as if it was saliva in the mouth of some vast creature chewing her into pieces. Somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness, Holly found the strength to speak.

"They… know," she mumbled.

"I KNOW THAT THEY KNOW."

"Well, what… are you going to do?"

"NOTHING. YOU DID AS I ASKED. THE BOOK STILL EXISTS. THE MEDDLER DID NOT REMOVE IT."

"But… it made Katniss… angry at me," said the elf, trying not to collapse against the terrible sound.

"AND?"

"You said… that it was our friendship… that would help…"

"THEN YOU HAD BETTER FIND A WAY TO FIX THAT."

"I am getting tired… of this. I don't want… to deal with you anymore."

"PATHETIC MORTAL. YOU CANNOT REMOVE MY PRESENCE FROM YOUR MIND. EVEN REDUCED TO A STATE LIKE THIS, I CANNOT BE ESCAPED."

Holly opened her eyes to find herself in her room again. She felt exhausted, but far worse was the feeling of self-betrayal.

I was supposed to be there for her. I wanted to help her. Now I've gone and ruined it. On her own, she'll get herself killed. Or will she? Nothing makes sense anymore.

"Miss Short. Please report to the common hall in five minutes."

"D'Arvit," she cursed, stuffing her head in her pillow.

The warriors began to flood the common hall, taking seats, clumping into their little groups. The Master of Games sat upon his throne, stroking his beard, chuckling to himself.

They thought they could be friends… heh. This round will prove to them that I am in control, and I can make this a very dangerous place indeed.

"Attention, my fine warriors! It is so good to see you all again! Except you, Benvolio."

"Thou art a KNAVE and a SCOUNDREL! I bite my thumb at thee!" cried an angry voice from the crowd.

"Anyway," the Master continued. "It's time to introduce the next round. This will be a team-based challenge, but this time you'll have to form alliances inside the arena. I'm thinking about making that standard. Any opinions?"

Silence.

"Okay then! Your goal is to capture the mansion that lies at the center of the arena. However, doing so will not be so simple. The arena will be filled with an array of… wildlife to slow your progress. You will also have to contend with other teams that wish to prevent you from attaining your goal. You may now return to your rooms. The round will begin in ten minutes."

The fighters began to leave the room, scampering toward the hallways. The Master of Games reclined in his seat and turned to the screen as it appeared.

This should be quite the show.

***

Holly was used to the drill by now. She stepped through her room's door as if she was leaving for the commons, only for it to lead to the blank-white prep room. A platform, as white as everything else in the room, rose from the floor. On it lay her gear- a Neutrino 3000, her helmet, and pleasantly, a set of mechanical wings.

These should prove useful. Being stuck on the ground all the time sure can get annoying.

She tightened the strap on her helmet and buckled on the wings, snapping shut the clasp across her chest. She slipped the Neutrino into her leg holster and walked toward the far wall, which opened onto the arena.

It was an unusual scene, one Holly had not expected. By the Master of Games' description, she would have assumed the setting would be something modern, with the mansion placed in the center of a park, or perhaps on a private island. Instead, she stepped onto what looked like a bizarre combination of a medieval city and the architecture of the Renaissance, wrapped around the edges in shadow. The streets were cobblestone, but a tight, well-paved fit. The buildings were clearly European in design, with clay-brown shingled roofs, and seemed to be of a much more modern design than the streets. Holly turned around and found the source of the shadow- behind her, the door to her prep room having disappeared, was a massive wall. In fact, the entire city seemed to be surrounded by them. They were easily more than forty meters in height. They dominated the skyline, casting their dark forms over the extremities of the city they protected. Down the streets Holly could see no obvious trace of any form of mansion.

"This is going to be a long round, isn't it?" she said, to no one in particular.

She fired up her wings and began to circle the perimeter of the city at low altitude, looking for a street that might give her a fair line of sight to her goal. Across the rooftops, she saw flickers of light popping in the distance.

People are finding each other. The battles are beginning. Good thing I haven't-

A massive impact knocked her out of control, sending her spiraling toward the ground. Muscular limbs locked around her, pressing sharp steel to her neck. The street amplified the attack, cobblestone working in tandem with her foe. Her helmet's heads-up-display shattered into a crystalline mess. Holly wrenched her head around and flung her Neutrino up, squarely between the eyes of her attacker. Fight-or-flight was subdued by recognition, and the elf lowered her weapon. The girl did not move her swords.

"Mikasa?" strained Holly, short on breath thanks to the girl's crushing grip. Mikasa was silent, her eyes seemingly observing far away events. Holly had seen that look before, whenever Katniss stumbled over the name of the Master of Games, or whenever she strung an arrow. It was the look of a person being tossed into hell a second time.

The girl slowly uncoiled herself from the pin, but continued to keep a sword on Holly's throat.

"Why?" she hissed, pulling her scarf down from over her mouth.

"I don't know," said Holly desperately. "What are you talking about?"

"Why here?" elaborated the girl.

"Want to tell me where here is?"

Mikasa stood, sheathing her swords, and looking across the city. She gave a short sigh.

"This is Shinganshima. This was my world."

"Is that so?" said Holly, lifting herself off the ground. No sooner had she finished standing than she found another sword at her throat.

"I'm not letting you get away that easily. You're behind this somehow," said Mikasa with quite a bit of certainty.

Holly rolled her eyes. "I'm behind this? What makes you think that?"

"Because you are a small titan."

"For the last time, I'm an elf. Could you stop going on about that? I don't even know what a titan is."

Mikasa raised her sword and pointed above Holly's head.

"You really think you're going to get me with that one? The whole dramatic, 'look, it's right behind you' shtick?"

The girl drew her other sword, and sprinted in the opposite direction.

"Okay. I know where this is going. I'm going to save myself some time and skip the whole 'see, I'll look behind me and prove it's not there, holy crap it's there' bit. I'll just skip to the running."

Holly leapt forward and engaged her wings, jetting just out of reach as a huge hand tore a chunk out of the street where she once was. Holly spun and observed the creature as she landed on a nearby rooftop. The titan, as Mikasa had called it, resembled the mythical giants of yore. For the most part, it was human in shape, even though its proportions were ungainly. The bare body was covered in blemished peachy skin, but it seemed devoid of any of sort of reproductive organs. Its dull, searching eyes pointed to a distinct lack of intelligence as well as shame. Its head was covered in a mat of greasy-looking long blonde hair, and it wore a terrifyingly wide smile filled with pearly-white, flat teeth.

"That is exceedingly unsettling!" called Holly. The titan realized it had missed and located the elf. It began to advance toward her rooftop perch.

"Hey, Mikasa! Is there any way to, I don't know, kill this thing?" as Holly shouted she realized that she didn't know where the girl had gotten to. She looked around frantically, spotting the girl running toward the creature down an adjacent street. Holly caught the titan's motions out of the corner of her eye and jumped in time to avoid a swipe of its hand. She engaged her wings and picked up altitude, floating just out of the titan's reach.

What is she up to? thought the elf as she watched Mikasa dash at the creature.

Mikasa jumped into the air, and cables shot from the bulky machinery hung around her waist and embedded themselves in the buildings lining the street. She swung forward, propelled by some sort of vapor trail. As she reached the apex of her arc, the cables detached from the buildings and retracted into the device, flinging her at breakneck speed toward the titan. Its arm was still bent over the building that Holly had been standing on, exposing its broad back. Mikasa twisted in mid-air, and extended her swords. A chunk of flesh fell from the titan's neck, and it slumped over the building, steam rising from its limp body.

Holly flew to where Mikasa had landed, where she was surprised to find that the girl had survived such a fall. In fact, she seemed no worse for wear at all. She flicked the blades, shaking off the blood that coated them.

"Any particular reason for the neck-shot?" asked the elf.

"Only way to keep them down," said the girl, sheathing her swords.

"Okay, I get it. That's why they gave you that doohickey," Holly said, motioning toward the 3D Maneuver Gear.

"That's right."

"So… what's the plan then?"

"Plan? You think I'm just going to team up with you? I still think you're responsible for this."

"After that thing tried to kill me?"

"Maybe you could be useful as a distraction."

"Even if you know this place like the back of your hand, you're not going to be able to do this alone. Besides, we worked together before," persuaded the elf.

Mikasa gave her a venomous look.

"Follow me," she said, walking toward the walls.

"Where are we going?"

"Home."