Mr. Everdeen slowly eased the arrow off of the bow's string, slipping it back into his quiver.

Dio won't be happy about that one.

He folded his legs, sitting quietly on the mansion's high, castle-like fortifications. Before him stretched a tangled mess of streets and buildings, with the occasional explosion erupting a few blocks away. It wasn't the safest place to be, but he wasn't too concerned. None of the teams were making much headway yet, though that his daughter and her companions had advanced the furthest was a source of a little pride. He heard soft footfalls behind him, and turned to face his team's leader.

"Lord Dio! I was about to inform you that-"

"No need, Mr. Everdeen. I know when I have lost a control bud. Matoi was a strong fighter, but I knew her good nature would get the better of her. With any luck, she'll lead them right to us."

"But, sir-"

"Rest assured, Mr. Everdeen. This is all going according to plan. Now, can I ask you a favor?"

"Well, of course," said the man, unsure what it would entail.

"I'm going to go on patrol. You will be in charge until I return."

"Are you sure, sir? Me?"

"Absolutely. I trust you more than any of the others. They're pawns, looking for something to smash. You've got some spirit. That's why you don't need a control bud. And I am more than capable of taking care of myself, so backup is unnecessary."

"Well, thank you sir. I will do my best."

"I'm sure you will," said the vampire, leaping over the ramparts.

Mr. Everdeen turned back to his perch, gazing over the roofs.

Well, this certainly is interesting.

***

"You do realize that we're not really making any progress toward the mansion, right?"

Mikasa gave Holly a cold look over her shoulder.

"Yes. This is something I have to do."

"Whatever," said Holly as the two crossed an intersection. She glanced left and right, and considered the comedy that she was not actually looking for traffic, but some angry cyborg or demon that would try and tear their heads off.

What I wouldn't give for a speeding Spud Emporium delivery truck to run me over…

"Okay, this is it," said the girl. In front of the two stood the remains of a cottage. A sizeable chunk of one of the walls sat in the center.

"That looks like a real bummer," noted Holly.

"The titans broke the wall in when I was just a kid. I guess you could say everything went downhill from there."

"Typical whole-family-gone thing, then?"

"Not really. Still lost my mother though. Second time."

"Second… time?"

"Never mind. My father was a scientist. He was doing research on titans. The majority of his work was left in the basement. If I can retrieve that information, when I win this thing I can go back with that knowledge. I could save a lot of lives."

"So in order for any of this little excursion to have any value at all, you have to win?"

"…Yes."

"Hmph," grunted Holly as the two arrived at the ruined house's caved-in roof. The debris had fallen in such a way as to collapse the roof directly down on top of the foundations, leaving nothing that resembled a house at all. All that was left was a pile of rubble.

Mikasa carefully treaded toward the center of the mess, digging through shingles and straw insulation. With a heave, she pulled a plank aside.

"There. I think that's all the better I can do."

Holly examined the hole she had carved out. Underneath the wooden floorboards was a dark space, so she had clearly found the basement. But as she watched the girl attempt to lower herself through the opening, she felt her stomach churn with dread.

"Oh," said Mikasa, stuck thigh-deep in the rubble. "I'm not going to fit."

"Oh, fine," sighed Holly. "Never send a Mud Man to do a fairy's job."

Mikasa pulled herself out and snapped her 3DMG back on.

"Well, if you're going to do it… I'll stand guard. But be specific about what you see!"

"Yeah, yeah," said Holly, who lowered herself slowly and deliberately into the dark basement. She hung on to the plank that Mikasa had pulled aside and carefully observed her surroundings. There was no light except for the sliver that shone down from the opening she was clinging to. In the corner was a set of wooden stairs. With a methodically-timed swing, she tossed herself onto the top step, and slowly worked her way down to the floor.

"What do you see?" shouted the girl above.

"Nothing," reported the elf. "It's too dark."

Holly flicked a finger past her helmet's heads-up display switch. The small pane of glass lowered in front of her eyes.

"Night vision should help, though."

Holly paused for a moment.

Hmm. It should have recognized the vocal command. What's up with the lag?

She reached up and placed a finger on the display, only to find nothing but a sharp ridge of shattered plasti-glass.

"Well, isn't this wonderful," she groaned.

I guess I'll have to bring items toward the light individually and examine them there.

Holly began to walk toward the aperture when a sudden dull thud rippled through the ground. For a moment, she could hear a scream from Mikasa. Then, the precious beam of light was snuffed out by shifted debris.

"D'Arvit!" she cursed, rushing in the direction she had come from. Again, the earth moved. This time, more violently. The floor buckled, and Holly heard metal clatter to the floor behind her. To her left, the sound of wooden furniture snapping. She was suddenly pinned to the ground by a large, heavy object, its contents- which felt like papers, books, and metal devices- fell around her. She was blind and being attacked on all sides.

She shoved the furniture away furiously, hearing glass smash in the corner of the room. She pressed forward, eventually feeling the bottom of the stairs under her hand. Bracing her back against the wall, she loped up the flight until the precious ceiling could be felt on the back of her head. He pressed her hands against the boards and shoved, miraculously knocking a few aside. Holly pulled herself upward into the light, finding herself once more in the ruins of the house. Mikasa lay unconscious on the ground.

"What in Frond's name-"

The bright light caught Holly's attention. A massive, unnatural inferno blazed across the street. The flames shifted almost rhythmically, ebbing and flowing between colors Holly had no name for. The fire filled a shallow crater, licking the street where it was still intact. At the center of the fire stood a solitary figure.

"Your friend there didn't put up much of a fight, elf," said the figure. The voice was certainly female, and Holly detected a slight Scottish twang.

"And I assume you want me to give you a better run for your money?" replied Holly, placing a hand on her holstered Neutrino.

"Clever lass," said the figure, which raised a hand elegantly, and performed an extra-loud snap. The flames dissipated, and she climbed out of the crater to stand in front of her new opponent. It was a woman, absurdly curvaceous, unnaturally youthful, and with a wardrobe that seemed physically impossible. Long green hair flowed over her shoulders, neatly matching her glimmering emerald eyes. Unusually, a pair of batlike wings emerged from her lower back, and another, smaller set poked out from under her verdant locks like antennae.

"You've got something on your face," she observed.

Was I staring? I think I was staring, thought Holly as she lifted a hand to her face. Her fingers ran over some sharp fragments of glass imbedded in her cheeks, which was enough to temporarily distract her from the woman. She plucked them out quickly and returned her attention to the nigh-obscene beauty in front of her.

"If you're finding yourself attracted to me," she said, "I assure you that is normal. It happens to everyone."

"Oh, good… because I… you… wow," Holly mumbled, unable to control herself.

"But I made it clear that I'm here for a physical encounter of the less pleasant sort."

"R-Right! Yeah! A fight! That's what we're here for! Yes!"

"Though I doubt a pint-sized leprechaun is going to put up any semblance of a decent scuffle," she added.

"Hey! We in the Recon division take our job very seriously! And I'm not from Ireland, they owe us the accent!" Holly was slightly annoyed.

"How about I beat the tar out of you, and then we just skip the pot 'o gold and give me my wishes?"

"I don't think that's how it-" She had moved on to highly annoyed.

"Or perhaps you need to get sozzled before you can throw a proper punch?"

Too far.

"I have better things to do with my time than take insults from a Scotch prostitute with an affinity for winged mammals," fumed Holly.

"How DARE ye insult the name of Morrigan Aensland, rightful laird of oll daemons! Fer suchlike an offense, I will personally smite ye as the shepherd slits the throat-"

"For Frond's sake," shouted Holly. "You were going to do that anyway!"

She fired three shots from her Neutrino, all of which were placed perfectly. Morrigan simply shrugged off the blasts, examining her nails.

"Is that gaen t'be most of ye routine?"

"Maaaybe," said Holly, in the process of plotting alternate strategies.

"Shadow Blade!" called Morrigan, driving an uppercut into the elf's chin. Without much weight to resist, Holly was knocked skyward. The succubus extended an arm toward the airborne elf, bracing it with her other.

"Soul Fist!" she shouted, which Holly began to understand meant that bodily harm was about to be inflicted. A bright, bat-shaped (Of course, she thought) ki blast fluttered away from Morrigan's extended hand with terrifying speed, exploding against Holly with concussive force. The elf arced even higher into the air, attempting to control her ascent as to keep a watchful eye on her opponent. She convinced herself this was to predict her next attack, though she wasn't entirely sure. She activated her mechanical wings, returning to stability by hovering in place.

"Neat trick, leprechaun. But ey've got the same wee card en meh sleeve."

The larger of her two sets of wings began to stretch and contort. Within the span of a second they had metamorphosed into two sleek intakes, equipped with cantilevered winglets and thrust-vectored outlets.

"Are those jet engi-"

"Yes," said Morrigan, suddenly at Holly's altitude. A sweeping kick sent the elf spiraling backward, recovering in time to evade another kick.

"Then I'm sorry to tell you that fairy wings are far more efficient than jet engines," snapped Holly, unleashing a barrage of rapid punches before turning and speeding away. Her wings buzzed furiously as she dove low over the rooftops. A telltale whine gave her notice as the succubus pulled up on her left.

"Aye, but these are demon jet engines," chuckled Morrigan.

Holly rolled to the right, peppering the demon with Neutrino fire. She managed to take the shots with only the slightest of flinches.

"D'Arvit, you just don't give up, do you?!"

Morrigan simply grinned. Holly checked her own flight path, veering to the right in time to dodge a church steeple. She heard the sickening impact as Morrigan collided with the structure. The stained glass shattered under the force, and the steeple itself developed a strong list.

There's no way that stopped her, thought Holly, cautiously hovering a fair distance from the church. True to form, the steeple exploded as the demon ripped through the other side, her jet engines sputtering and catching on maximum burn as she dove toward the elf again.

Holly resumed her flight, confident that she could run Morrigan into some other obstacle enough times to slow her down and make an escape. Until a Soul Fist bat flew past her nose and exploded. The elf was knocked out of control, and had nearly recovered when another hit her in the gut. She dropped hard onto the rooftop below, shattering shingles under the landing.

"Okay, good shot. But why don't you come down here and fight me mano-a-mano?"

Morrigan hovered above the rooftops across the street, her jets singeing the structures below her in the backwash.

"Normally I'd say no, elf. But this is jest too satisfyin'. Ey'd think feelin' up yer skull with my knuckles mey jest be more fun."

That's it. Take the bait.

Morrigan charged forward, her jets kicking into full burn, and was promptly snagged by the titan that had wandered down the street. It regarded her with the same dull eyes they regarded anything with, slowly drawing its new prize toward its gaping mouth.

"Looks like your charms have no effect on them, Morrigan," grunted the elf.

An evil grin spread across the succubus' face.

"But what about my missiles?"

Missiles? thought Holly, more than a little distraught.

Morrigan wiggled in the titan's grasp, working her way further into the creature's massive hand. The titan's hand was nearly to its mouth when a muffled thud and a dim light could be seen under the pallid, flabby skin. The titan instantly threw Morrigan to the ground, steam rising from a gory wound in its palm. Morrigan landed carefully, flexing the long, black tendrils that had replaced her jet engines. Each one was tipped with a distinct, conical section.

"Finishing Shower!" she screamed, and a volley of unnatural guided munitions launched themselves from the briar-like tangle extending from her back. The missiles tore chunks of flesh off of the titan's bones, caving in its head and ruining its limbs. Morrigan wiped her hands off as the giant tumbled onto a row of houses, laying still and smoldering. She returned her attention to Holly.

What had once been bat wings changed again, folding themselves over her left arm into what could best be described as an overly-long glove, long enough to snatch Holly from the rooftop and send her crashing to the street below. The glove collapsed back into wings, and Morrigan folded her arms over her chest.

"What a shame. I was having quite a wee bit of fun there. It's not often I get to exert myself like this," said the succubus with selective emphasis.

Holly lifted herself off of the ground, clutching her right arm. It was definitely broken, but her magic was already at work fixing it. From what she could tell, the bone had already set and was about halfway healed.

Guess I'm running hot. That's a good thing.

"Can I ask you a question?" strained the elf.

"Make it meaningful," oiled Morrigan.

"How are you at multitasking?"

"What a naughty thing to-"

SNICK.

Like oversized leaves, the wings floated lazily to the ground. Morrigan's eyes widened in fear and pain as she reached behind her waist to find bloody stubs where her multi-purpose appendages used to sit. Vaguely word-like noises escaped her mouth erratically as she stumbled to a sitting position. Mikasa flicked her blade, casting the blood onto the ground.

"Fancy meeting you here," said the elf dryly. She rotated and flexed her arm. All seemed functional.

"I came to about a couple seconds before you took off. It wasn't difficult following you."

"You know, I didn't find anything in the basement."

"It's okay, Holly. For all we know, it could have been a bunch of rubbish anyway."

"You cut off… mah bloody wings," moaned Morrigan.

"You broke my arm," replied Holly.

"And ruined my house. More," added Mikasa.

The succubus rose to her feet, her head lowered, glaring up at Holly through the veil of her emerald hair.

"To answer yer question, I'm bloody fantastic."

A pulse of light erupted from the wounded demon, briefly blinding her opponents. When it subsided, Holly and Mikasa noticed that there were now two succubi. The newcomer was nearly identical to Morrigan, though possessing much shorter hair and a much more realistically-shaped body. The only other visible difference between the two was that the new demon's attire was red.

"Oh, Morri! What did you do?!" she exclaimed, looking at Morrigan's wounds.

"I didn't do anything. They did," she replied, flailing an arm at Holly and then at Mikasa.

"You guuuys, you can't just go around hurting people like that! That's mean!" whined the second succubus innocently.

"You're kidding me, right?" said Holly to Morrigan.

"Hey! I'm no kid!" exclaimed the newcomer, stamping her foot. "I'm a young lady! I'm at least TEN YEARS OLD! Is that right, Morri?"

"This is why I don't let you out much, Lilith," grunted Morrigan.

Mikasa drew her second sword, performing a dramatic flourish with a roll of her wrist.

"Come on. I'll snip your wings, too."

"That's fine," chirped Lilith. "But no tagbacks!"

Lilith rushed at Mikasa, who ducked underneath a high punch and countered with a leg sweep. The younger succubus quickly became acquainted with the street, barely rolling out of the way to dodge a two-sword stab. She flipped to her feet.

"Silly me. I must have tripped on something back there."

Is it really possible for someone to be so stupid? Thought Mikasa, before getting punched through a window across the street. Lilith skipped over to her opponent, peeking through the shattered glass.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Do you think you broke anything?"

Holly sidestepped another Soul Fist, the energy-bat exploding harmlessly against a building behind her.

"Wow, Morrigan. You seem a little stressed," said Holly with more than a tinge of sarcasm.

"Aye. Y'don't s'pose it has anything to do with mah bloody wings bein' gone?!"

Holly swung her body in place, landing a roundhouse kick and staggering the succubus.

"I'm sensing a lot of pent-up aggression. We need to talk this through."

"Like hell we do!" snarled Morrigan, rolling into another Shadow Blade. Holly stepped backwards in time for the jumping uppercut to miss completely. Upon Morrigan's landing, the succubus was greeted by a nasty haymaker.

"Let's start with your childhood," suggested the elf.

Mikasa scrambled to her feet, stunning Lilith with a strike from her sword's grip. She followed up with a powerful gut kick, knocking the succubus back out into the open street. Lilith dusted herself off and smiled. The scout flicked the triggers on her swords, sending the 3D Maneuver Gear's anchors into the building across the street. Lilith knelt down by a cable, examining it closely.

"Oooh. What do these do?"

Mikasa ran forward and flicked another trigger, retracting herself toward the anchors. She extended her feet at the last second, pinning Lilith to the building's wall with an enhanced dropkick. She kicked away from the way and landed with an elegant flip, retracting the remaining cables. Lilith moaned softly.

"Thaaat's what they do."

Holly glimpsed Mikasa's brutal attack, and returned her focus to Morrigan.

"Looks like we're doing better," she noted. "Wouldn't have anything to do with summoning that friend of yours, would it?"

"Na! That'd be-"

Lilith crashed through the building across the street again, the roof caving in after taking so much damage. Mikasa charged back after her opponent, preparing to attack again.

"Ridiculous?" finished the Holly, shooting Morrigan in the face. The succubus hit the ground hard, wincing as she examined her new wound.

"That wouldn't have hurt you before," explained Holly. "But whatever you did to make Lilith has drained a lot of your power. In fact, I'm willing to bet you could have regenerated those wings if you didn't summon her."

"Ey… Ey was…"

"Afraid? That's what I figured. You hid your lack of self-confidence under a mask of bravado. If you had believed in yourself, and fought Mikasa and I alone, you might have won."

"R…Really?"

"Yeah, probably. Either that, or I'm just that good. But I'm betting on the latter."

Lilith popped out of the rubble, bruised and bleeding, and rushed to the side of Morrigan. In a flash of light, she disappeared, and only the first succubus remained. She stood, extending a hand.

"Well, then. It was an absolute pleasure fighting you. I only hope we meet again sometime, Miss…?"

"Short. Holly Short."

"Holly Short, I will not be so… gentle next time. I might even have to use the Glasgow Guzzl-"

Morrigan's sentence was cut off by her head exploding, which is generally quite the inconvenience for coherent speech. Her body fell limply to the ground. Holly, stunned, turned to face the shooter.

Orange sunglasses peered out underneath the shadow of a broad hat, a cruel smile shining through the darkness. A massive pistol held by a wiry gloved hand, attached to a flowing red coat.

"Send my regards to Maximoff," the man oozed.

Twilight Sparkle stepped out from behind the man, looking far sterner than she usually did.

"Holly," she said with restraint. "I need to have a word with you."

Mikasa sprinted to Holly's side, brandishing her swords.

"Hey! What are you trying to pull?"

The man reached into his coat and retrieved another pistol, aiming it squarely between Mikasa's eyes.

"Do not interfere," he warned, his voice retaining an eerie calm.

"Mikasa," said Holly, not letting her gaze waver from the red-clad man. "Run."

For a moment, she hesitated- but another second looking at the man's terrifying smile convinced her otherwise. She turned and swung away, disappearing into the next city block over. Holly quietly set down her weapon and raised her hands.

"Listen, Holly. I'm sorry to have to do this," said Twilight, trotting to the elf. "But you need help. I want you to help me, help you. Is that okay?"

"Spit it out, Twi. What are you playing at?"

"Not so fast. I'm going to explain what's going on right now first. This is Alucard," she said, tilting her head toward the red-coated man, whose pistols were now levelled at her.

"He's here to make sure I don't get hurt, and that you don't hurt yourself."

"Yes. So much safety with those hand-cannons around."

"Alucard is a vampire," explained Twilight. "Don't bother trying to attack him. You will not be successful."

The unicorn came to a stop next to Holly, kicking her Neutrino along the ground. A girl clad in a black sailor suit tossed the weapon into the air with her foot, catching it deftly in one hand.

"And that is Ryuko. She's here to make sure that Alucard doesn't get hurt."

"'S she a vampire, too?"

"No. Her uniform is."

The girl drew what appeared to be one half of a scissor from her pocket, twirling it as it expanded into an oversized blade. She rested the blunt end of the red hunk of metal on her shoulder, scowling at Holly.

"Now, to tell you what we're here for," continued Twilight. "I have to ask you what you saw in the room."

"The room?" said Holly, feeling unnaturally nervous. "What room?"

"You know very well, Holly. What did you see?"

How does she know?

"This is silly, Twilight. The only rooms I've seen were mine, and Katniss'. And the commons, if you want to count-"

"Stop lying, police elf," said Alucard. He seemed to really enjoy saying 'police elf'. Holly found it even more disturbing. She decided it was time to confess.

"It… it was dark. There was a voice. It sounded terrible. It felt terrible. I… I felt like I had heard it before."

"Holly, there are a few things I can't tell you. Not yet," said the unicorn grimly. "What I can tell you for certain is this: That room does not exist."

"But I walked into it myself. I was there."

"You're a cop, Holly. Have you ever dealt with a mail bomber?"

"What does that have to do with-"

"Why do they use thick envelopes?"

"…So you can't see what's inside. Or to keep poison contained. I still don't see what you're getting at."

"Holly. You're the envelope."

She still could not quite grasp what Twilight Sparkle was implying, but terror began to close in over her, swallowing her subconscious. The puddle of fear she had been standing in was becoming much deeper.

"Wha…what?"

"I was trying to be vague to help you out. I'm afraid that when I tell you this, you're not going to feel well. When the Master of Games brought you here, he put something else inside of you. Something he wanted to keep safe, something he wanted to contain. He could've used anyone, really. But you're the one who picked it up."

Holly felt a sharp pain at the back of her head. Her ears were ringing, but not the usual, high-pitched whine. It was as if she was inside a multitude of church bells, sounding slowly, drawn out unnaturally. She fell to her knees, holding her head in agony.

"Once it started telling you to do things," said Twilight, "we had to step in. I need you to, for lack of a better term, be yourself. Why, I'll have to explain later. But for now, we need to get it out."

Holly had devolved to howling in pain, beating her fists bloody on the ground. Twilight gave a nod to both of her followers. Alucard phased into the ground, his arms slipping up around Holly's, pinning her to the ground. Ryuko snapped the bolt on her glove, and her outfit pulled itself taut around her, transforming into its battle mode.

"Now, all physiological changes undergone in the arenas are reverted after the round ends… so doing this, which should be permanent, is going to take a lot of magic. Bear with me, Holly."

Holly thrashed and struggled on the ground as the unicorn began to glow with an aura of lavender energy. The terrible sound in her head was changing. The chaos was forming itself into words. Since her mouth was too busy screaming in pain, only her subconscious was left to scream in fear at what it said.

"THANK YOU."