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Description
De was fully awake before her bot had come to see her and announce her next opponent. She had had an exciting night after reuniting with her husband for the first time in years and had both gotten to talk to their children. It had helped De so much to hear their voices, since when she had left they looked like they had the feeling that they were being abandoned. She now had gotten her second wind and was much more determined to win despite her injuries and slight fatigue.

Rik had left not too long ago, which had woken De up. She had gathered her stuff and stepped out of the cave, back into the icy cold. She shivered slightly- the weather had not changed from dark, wet, and gloomy for what she felt was the longest time. She would not let this put a damper on her spirits though. She snuggled into the now familiar embrace of her jacket and began her trek up the mountain as her energetic robot fell in beside her.

"Hey De!" it chirped, "The people loved you last night!"

De gritted her teeth and rubbed her forehead, "Please, don't tell me about what the people thought. It's embarrassing and gross. Just tell me who my opponent is, okay?"

"Oookay…" the bot said, displaying a hologram of a powerful looking Vortkin mutant wearing what reminded her of an exercise outfit, some gloves, and- oddly enough- he was going barefoot. The only injuries he seemed to have accrued so far was an scratch on his cheek. De thought briefly how strange it was that he wasn't frostbitten all over with how much skin he had left exposed to the elements. No doubt the whole planet was freezing over the way the snow and hail storms wouldn't let up.

"Well, your next opponent is Stinger! He's an experiment created by someone called Master M who melded together the dead parts of an Irken and a Vortian and reanimated him. For three months before this competition he had been training to be a warrior and he's really living up to it! He disposed of his first two opponents pretty quickly. Maybe you'll have better luck than them. Have fun!" it informed De and then flew away.

"Have fun!" De mocked it quietly, "Ugh. Just… No." She shook her head, her long antennae catching in the chilling wind as she climbed upwards, to find and face yet another opponent. By now, she was sure that they had weeded out all of the weaklings.

Just as her brain was clouding with unpleasant thoughts, De thought she could feel the presence of her ghostly dragon friend. The wind died down briefly and there was a faint glimmer where Dovewings traveled along beside her. De was beginning to think of him as her little guardian angel… Or maybe she was just imagining him. She couldn't tell anymore, and didn't really care. He was someone to accompany De in her grim and gore filled journey. De decided against talking to him, though, in case her opponent was anywhere nearby and might hear her. At least she wasn't all alone anymore.

-

Stinger stared down at the transport pad. He had just received word that his new opponent was located on the mountains. He was hesitating, almost considering not going because of his fear of heights. The mountains were tall and there were lots of cliffs you could misstep and they would crumble and send you plummeting to your doom...

He shuddered. The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became.

His camera bot began pushing him from behind. "C'mon, go."

"No, stop!" Stinger cried, digging his footclaws into the ground to prevent the bot from pushing him onto the pad. "I don't want to go! Let me stay here!"

Master interrupted and spoke to him. "You need to go." she encouraged him, "You will not succeed unless you go fight her. Be brave, face your fear."

Stinger let out a little whine of complaint, but none the less complied. He stepped onto the platform. Light enveloped him and he was transported to the mountains.

-

By this time, De had made it fairly far up the mountain. The snowstorm had picked up, making it considerably harder to see where she was going. She had held onto a wall to make sure she wasn't walking off the edge of a cliff when there was a bend in the path. The snow was almost up to her knees. In an attempt to keep snow out of her boots, De had pulled her pant legs over her boots. So far it was working, but she had cold, wet legs. She didn't dare remove her hands from her pockets.

The snow and wind slowed down for a moment and De opened her eyes wider so she could get a better look around. To her right was the rocky wall of the mountain she was leaning against and to her left was the edge of the cliff. The path was a little too narrow for De's liking, but at least she wasn't crushed up against the wall and scooting around a ledge.

She looked out past her nearby surroundings and to the scenery beyond. She caught a glimpse of what lay under a mass of dark grey clouds. The forest of trees she saw looked brown. The rapid weather change must have shocked the plants- maybe even frozen them solid. She wasn't there to sightsee though. She turned her attention to what lay ahead. The path rose steeply and De couldn't see over it. It looked as if it had been carved out of the rock because both sides of the path had walls.

De stepped forward and climbed over the rise. When she reached it, her heart nearly stopped.

-

De was overlooking what she estimated as at least three hundred meter drop with only a rickety rope bridge to cross to the other side on.

Luckily the snow had fallen through the cracks and blown off the sides, leaving the planks fairly visible, although it was still enough mask the possibly broken or splintering ones. De held onto the wall as she tested the first plank of the bridge. The whole thing creaked, but held fast as De put more and more of her weight on it She released her death grip on the rock wall and held onto the rope. She tested the next one before stepping onto it and continued in this fashion until she was standing in the middle of the bridge. She was all tensed up still and was trying to keep herself calm just when the breeze picked back up.

The bridge swayed and bobbed wildly in the gale. De was scared stiff. She didn't even breath until the bridge stopped moving entirely. Now she was panicking and not thinking clearly. She had to get off the bridge- and fast. Another strong gust might just blow her off the whole thing. She was almost to the other side. She could make it.

She tested the steps less and less carefully in her haste. This was a mistake.

She had not gone more than three steps when the plank snapped beneath her weight. The halves had not dislodged and fallen away completely, leaving her right leg trapped between two splintery pieces of wood.

"Nnnh..." De whined. She took one of her hands off the rope and tried pushing the one of the pieces away so she could get her leg out. It hurt, the edges scraping though her pants and cutting her leg. Splinters were left in her gloves. But then the wood fell away and she was free.

Shakily, she got to her feet. That moment of sheer fear had set her on edge again. She felt dizzy and kept looking back down at the deadly fall she had just barely avoided. Her heart was racing and her breath coming in little gasps. She could see, but she felt as if she were staring through a tunnel. She fought to stay conscious, but in the end she lost.

-

De opened her eyes in what she hoped was her last vision of the tournament. It was a memory she had nearly forgotten- the ball the Emperor had held not long before she had been sent off. She was sitting alone in the corner. At that time she had been cripplingly shy. She had not moved from the spot since she had gotten there and was considering leaving just before Ser came over to her and offered her a drink. In the memory, she hadn't noticed him putting anything into her drink, but this time she did. When he took the drinks from the server, he had dumped something into one of them.

As her memory self took the glass, De's heart raced, just as someone would if they knew another person was in danger. She sipped the drink and almost immediately became exhausted. She sat back down on the bench, holding her head. Ser sat next to her, rubbing her back gently and talking to her, though through the haze in her head she couldn't understand a single word of it. Then her memory self fell unconscious. The last thing De saw before the vision ended was Ser picking her up in his arms and carrying her out of the ballroom.

-

De woke up to the sound of someone sawing at rope and the bridge bouncing. She looked up and saw a Vortkin crouched down and cutting the bridge ropes with the tip of one of his PAK legs. His eyes were shut tight and he looked deathly afraid. He was shivering and shifting around almost constantly. De recognized him as the one her camera bot had shown her, Stinger.

"Stinger!" she barked, getting to her feet. Her opponent looked up at her like a scared animal. He had stopped moving entirely, meaning he was no longer cutting the rope, but the damage had been done. If De moved again she risked snapping the rope.

De's hold on the rope tightened and she continued across the bridge, but at the same time, Stinger started cutting the rope again.

"I see how it is." De grunted, "Not even going to exchange words with the Irken you're about to kill."

De dug in her satchel and took out the first thing her hand touched. It was a half empty bottle of pepper spray. She chucked it at Stinger. He threw up his PAK legs, keeping the canister from hitting his face. He watched as it bounced off and plummeted ground-ward and, finally, as it cracked down on the frozen, snow covered stream below.

De kept advancing. Stinger got scared and scrambled away on his spider legs.

"Gods above," De grumbled, relieved that he was now unable to finish cutting the rope. This wasn't the time to celebrate though, since the wind was howling through the valley again. It was just the encouragement the bridge needed to finally snap.

De was jolted as the bridge fell out from under her feet. Only the one side broke, leaving De clinging to the tangle of ropes above her head. Her legs dangled in midair. Her eyes were wide and she couldn't help but look down.

"Ah!" she gasped. She squirmed around, trying to reach the other arm up so she'd have a more firm hold on the rope. It took a few tires, but she was finally able to catch a hold of it. She turned her attention to getting across the rest of the way.

"Okay, this is just like monkey bars... Just like monkey bars..." she told herself. She swung her arm out, caught he next rope, and held on. She did the same thing with her other arm and repeated this until she could touch the rocky ledge. She held onto it and pulled herself up. She flopped down into the snow, panting. Now she didn't mind the icy burn of the snow, her body felt much too hot anyway.

She rested no more than a minute. Arms trembling, she pushed herself to her feet and chased after Stinger. He was long out of her sight by now. She reached the top of a little hill and saw that the terrain flattened out into about a circle shaped area. Cliff walls rose all around and it looked as if there was a spiral staircase around the whole area. Caves dotted the walls and in the middle was a large, iced over lake.

De shivered, it was strangely colder here, and whenever the wind blew through, a haunting melody played throughout the whole area. She pulled out her fighting staff and strapped her bag to her back. Her eyes surveyed the area for any sign of her opponent. There were footprints in the snow, as if Stinger had given up using his PAK legs and began walking again. De followed these and discovered they went in and out of most of the caves. She passed by each cave until she found one that did not have a set of exit prints. Based on the pattern, he was going to come out again.

This was De's chance. She pressed herself up against the wall just outside of the cave mouth so that Stinger wouldn't be able to see her. Within a minute, De could hear Stinger running out. She readied her staff.

The moment he set foot outside of the cave, De hit him in the head with the blunt end of her staff. It took him by surprise and he toppled over. For a second De thought she had the upper hand, but when an angry creature resembling a mountain lion rushed out. De jumped back and its sharp clawed feet barely missed Stinger and slid across the ice. It slipped around a little bit, trying to catch solid ground with its paw pads, allowing De to get a good look at it. Its fur was almost entirely light brown, except for the graying fur around its muzzle, signifying it was fairly old. Its fangs were large and ended in sharp points that could kill with a single bite. The one other thing she noticed that it had bloody foam dripping out of the side of its mouth.

"It-it's got r-rabies!" De stammered.

Stinger was just waking up and held his head as he sat up. "That's why I was running..." he grunted.

"Right... Temporary truce until we deal with this animal?" De asked quickly as she saw the lion regain control and come rushing back at them.

"Uh..!" Stinger didn't answer, jumping out of the way of the big cat, only just escaping its massive claws.

"I'll take that as a yes!" De grunted as she stepped back away from the animal that was turning now to face her. She held her staff defensively as she slowly stepped back away from it. It would not waste time playing her little back away game though. It chased her and she ran away, slipping on the ice and lying sprawled out there. She was sure that the mountain lion would get her now, but no.

Stinger was there in a flash, his bright PAK legs gleaming as they held him firm onto the ice and stabbed the wild lion in the side. Before the injuries got too severe, the mountain lion retreated into where it could safely get a foothold in the snow. It circled them slowly, head down and lips pulled back to where the two combatants could see all its rotten teeth.

De got to her feet, slipping slightly across the glassy surface and almost falling again. Stinger was much better off, with four extra appendages to keep him held in place. He looked cold though, shivering violently and his skin turning pale. His fighting spirit seemed to shine in this moment though, how he did not allow the weather to discourage him. He charged forward and the lion met him with open jaws.

He dodged at the last second, kicking the beast in the head and stabbing it again with his PAK legs. The mountain lion only gave him a moment to do so before it turned and bit at his leg, but missed and got a mouthful of air.

De had taken the moment that it was distracted and gotten nearer to it, making a swipe at it with the plasma blade at the end of her staff. This caught it by surprise and made it stumble back onto Stinger. The two of them were knocked to the ground, the mountain lion fighting to kill Stinger and for he to try to escape unharmed. Neither of these two things happened though.

The lion bit Stinger in the shoulder and tried shaking him around. Scared, Stinger activated his power gloves for the second time during the tournament and shocked the rabid mountain lion to death. The weapon had sapped his energy, and coupled with the icy cold of the snow and the weight of the lion corpse was enough to pull him into unconsciousness.

De had held her staff defensively for a while even after she saw that the lion was dead and her competitor seemed to be taking a nap. She slowly approached the two of them, too nervous to touch either of them. She nudged the lion off into the fresh white snow, and looked over her opponent. The teeth marks in his right shoulder were clear and some of the foam from the lions mouth had stuck to it. This was enough to make De gag, but she held back from vomiting. She didn't have the guts to kill him, defenseless and exposed to contract an illness as he was.

"He'll be dead soon anyway," she assured herself shakily as she gathered her things and proceeded to leave, "Everyone has to give up at some point."

--
It was no more than a few minutes passed that De had left him for dead, that Stinger twitched back to life, his Master's eerie song of encouragement stinging at the back of his skull.

De had climbed to the top of the spiral around the circular area she and Stinger had fought the mountain lion in and crossed another bridge onto yet another mountain ledge. It didn't take her long to come across another cave to nowhere that faced away from where the wind was gusting in from and sit down to tend her old wounds and clean her staff of the infected lion's blood. She was blissfully scrubbing away when she heard what sounded like a chant that was rising.

"Kill all opposing subjects…! Avoid death…!"

It was Stinger, repeating his objective like some kind of mantra. His voice grew stronger and clearer as he came closer to where De was. She was aware of this and quickly packed up all her stuff, carefully enough that the shifting around would not give away her position. She made her way to the back of the cave where she would be hidden by the shadows if he should look into the cave.

Just as the back of her foot touched the wall did Stinger peak around the corner, going quiet. He seemed skeptical of the emptiness of the cave and stepped inside cautiously. De regretted not being more careful about covering her tracks. She would remember that for next time. If there was a next time, that is.

De bent down slowly and removed a can of pepper spray from her satchel. She thanked God it didn't clank against other things. She held it in front of her and turned her face away, checking to see where Stinger was. He was only inches away from her when she sprayed her pepper spray in his face. He screamed and stumbled backwards, rubbing his eyes to try to get it out but making the irritation worse.

She swiped her staff at him, he leaning back just in time for it to miss him. His PAK legs shot out and he used them to move him backwards and out of the cave. De followed him, holding her staff up defensively. Stinger stopped just in the mouth of the cave, taking one of his PAK legs and trying to hit her with it. She blocked it. Sadly, she was unable to hold on to her weapon and it was pushed out of her hands and onto the ground. She was unable to retrieve it because the same PAK leg that had wrenched it from her grasp arched upwards and cut the skin between her eyes.

She jumped back too late and touched her head with her hand. She winced. There it was- hot blue blood and the pain to accompany it. There was no time to think about it because Stinger kept attacking. A swipe from the side, a stab from in front- he was not stopping. De dodged these attacks, managing to get into the sack on her back and get another weapon. She brought out a knife. When Stinger tried to inflict another wound on her with his PAK leg, De sidestepped it and brought her knife down on the end, cutting it off. Electricity from the cut wires hissed at her and jumped onto the knife, shooting up it and burning her left hand.

"Ah!" they both cried. Stinger retracted his PAK leg while De dropped her knife and nursed her burnt hand. Her gloves had practically fused onto her hand and the wedding ring concealed by it made the injury worse. De ducked under Stinger, barely avoiding another two stabs he made with his other PAK legs. She dove into the snow, pressing her hand into it and tried to get the burning sensation to go away. She tore her glove off, whining a little as her skin was exposed to the icy air. She didn't take the time to appreciate the burn yet, she still had to deal with her opponent. She got to her feet and made the bold decision… to run away.

She fled and Stinger followed, continuing to rely on his PAK legs to keep him stable and not to fall. De took no such precautions; she merely scrambled away, trying to keep her life. They climbed upwards, eventually reaching another rope bridge. Too bad for De that all of the planks inside of it had rotted and fallen away and she could no longer climb across. There was, however, another cave some ways down the sheer edge of the mountain. De formed a plan in her mind and quickly set to work.

She first cut off the rope on one side of the bridge. She caught a hold of the rope on the other side and began edging across to where she thought it would swing down and deposit her inside the cave. She sawed the rope in two and fell just as Stinger arrived.

Stinger watched as the female Irken plummeted through the sky and swung her into the cave mouth. He was about to follow, but he noticed that it was a pretty far ways down… Fear gripped his heart. He squeezed his eyes shut. He had to kill her but his fear of heights was barring him from continuing.

De lay face down in the cave she had landed in. She hurt all down her front, feeling like she had scraped herself up pretty badly. She took a minute to get herself back together. She pushed herself up to where she could sit and look at herself. She wiped the blood off her forehead and out of her eyes and examined herself.

Her right glove and pants had been ripped and both her hands and knees been skinned. Her right shoulder and breast hurt as if she had scraped them up as well. She wasn't going to check on that right now though. She had dropped her knife on entrance so that it wouldn't accidentally stab her. She felt around for it in the dark cave and when she found it she held it ready. Defensive actions were not a way to win in a fighting tournament.

She peered out of the cave and up at where Stinger was petrified with fear staring down at her. Or maybe he was just staring down in general. She couldn't tell. Then she saw him shake his head and step backwards. Was he going to jump? He seemed unsure of what he was going to do his own self.

Stinger was screaming at himself in his head. His fear of heights was so crippling. He cursed himself for being so scared!

"You haveve come this far. You have done so well." Master urged him, "It is just a little jump. You can do it."

Stinger bit his lip. He could not move. Oh, of all the places he had to fight, it had to be the mountains!

"Go! This was to test you! To help you get over your fears! Jump! You can do it!" Master continued.

Stinger whined. He had only a little more and then he could rest and get down from the mountain. He backed up and braced himself. He counted down to himself.

"3… 2… 1…"

He dashed forward, using his PAK legs to propel him forward. He had his eyes shut and PAK legs aimed in front of him to catch himself on the other side of the wall.

Clink!

He caught a hold of the other side successfully, though he kept his eyes shut. He didn't want to look down by accident and lose what little courage he had at the moment. He started down the side of the cliff to where De was.

De had watched him jump the chasm. He was not giving up. Her grip tightened on her knife as she heard the metallic clinks grow louder and nearer to her. Then there he was, stepping all the way down into her cave. This was her moment to act. He had yet to open his eyes when De rushed at him, knife held in a reverse grip. She plunged the knife into his midsection, knocking him backwards. His eyes shot open and mouth wide in a scream. He lost his hold on the rock wall and fell backwards. Down to the ground he plummeted with the knife still lodged in his stomach.

"I- I failed Master…! I'm sorry…!" he cried, his last words before he hit the rocks below and rolled down the mountain side.

De watched as he disappeared into the snow washed landscape before she retreated into her cave. All she wanted to do was curl up back in the cave and go to sleep…

And that's what she did for the next few hours it took her camera bot to find her. She was awoken by the bot poking her arm. De swatted it away, coughing into the back of her hand. Oh god, she was coming down with something. She hurt everywhere… The cold and the not sleeping in a bed and the irregular sleep patterns were getting to her.

"Aah I'm awake," she groaned, her voice sounding like a croak, "What is it?"

"Oh, um, it's freezing cold outside. Don't let me freeze!" it squeaked, diving under De's coat. It's metal against her shirt hurt and it connected to her clothes.

"Hey! No! Out! Augh!" De squealed as she tried to smack the robot away from her. She hit it just right so it bounced up and hit the ceiling of the cave and ricochet back down on the floor, where it stayed dazed. "…And stay out." De said.

At this same moment, an Irken with incredible timing called. De's communication device began to beep again. "Aw hell…" De muttered before answering it. "Hello?"

"De, I found out who the father is!" Paneece said over the connection.

"Let me stop you there, because I know too." De said.

"You do?"

"Yes. Er, I think I do. Let me guess before you tell me at least."

"Okay, guess."

De hesitated. She didn't like saying it aloud.

"I'm waiting…" Paneece hummed.

"Ugh… It's… Ser, isn't it?" De choked out.

"Yeah. All the way back from your time, buried within the deleted archives of a former scientist." Paneece confirmed.

De sighed heavily. There was her answer. She had thought it would be a relief to know who the father was finally, but she just felt disturbed- sickened at the thought that her former employer had done such a thing.

"Thanks Paneece." De grumbled, placing her head on her arm.

"No problem. Well, I'd better let you go. You still have a tournament to win! Good luck and get some rest." Paneece said.

"Yes mom." De grunted.

"Pppff," on the other end, the hacker Irken was rolling her eyes, "Bye De." She hung up.

"Bye." She pushed the button and put the communication device away.

Well, so much for a good night's sleep. Too much was bothering De- a sore throat, her burned hand, the truth about Ouri's dad… She sat up and scooted over to the opening of the cave and let her legs dangle out the side. The wind and snow had died down a lot at the moment, though she still shivered as she sat there. She reached up and held onto the bit of rope that hung down that she had cut to get to the cave in the first place. It would be her only way up and out for the next round of the accursed tournament. She prayed that it wouldn't freeze and become so brittle that it broke the moment she put her weight on it… and that she would still have enough strength to climb up it when morning came. Otherwise she'd be in a bad spot for her next opponent. Trapped in a Cliffside cave, ripe for her opponents taking! Ha!

She sighed again, looking up for any sign of a moon. Nothing. It was all clouds.

…It was going to be another long night.

Description
De was fully awake before her bot had come to see her and announce her next opponent. She had had an exciting night after reuniting with her husband for the first time in years and had both gotten to talk to their children. It had helped De so much to hear their voices, since when she had left they looked like they had the feeling that they were being abandoned. She now had gotten her second wind and was much more determined to win despite her injuries and slight fatigue.

Rik had left not too long ago, which had woken De up. She had gathered her stuff and stepped out of the cave, back into the icy cold. She shivered slightly- the weather had not changed from dark, wet, and gloomy for what she felt was the longest time. She would not let this put a damper on her spirits though. She snuggled into the now familiar embrace of her jacket and began her trek up the mountain as her energetic robot fell in beside her.

"Hey De!" it chirped, "The people loved you last night!"

De gritted her teeth and rubbed her forehead, "Please, don't tell me about what the people thought. It's embarrassing and gross. Just tell me who my opponent is, okay?"

"Oookay…" the bot said, displaying a hologram of a powerful looking Vortkin mutant wearing what reminded her of an exercise outfit, some gloves, and- oddly enough- he was going barefoot. The only injuries he seemed to have accrued so far was an scratch on his cheek. De thought briefly how strange it was that he wasn't frostbitten all over with how much skin he had left exposed to the elements. No doubt the whole planet was freezing over the way the snow and hail storms wouldn't let up.

"Well, your next opponent is Stinger! He's an experiment created by someone called Master M who melded together the dead parts of an Irken and a Vortian and reanimated him. For three months before this competition he had been training to be a warrior and he's really living up to it! He disposed of his first two opponents pretty quickly. Maybe you'll have better luck than them. Have fun!" it informed De and then flew away.

"Have fun!" De mocked it quietly, "Ugh. Just… No." She shook her head, her long antennae catching in the chilling wind as she climbed upwards, to find and face yet another opponent. By now, she was sure that they had weeded out all of the weaklings.

Just as her brain was clouding with unpleasant thoughts, De thought she could feel the presence of her ghostly dragon friend. The wind died down briefly and there was a faint glimmer where Dovewings traveled along beside her. De was beginning to think of him as her little guardian angel… Or maybe she was just imagining him. She couldn't tell anymore, and didn't really care. He was someone to accompany De in her grim and gore filled journey. De decided against talking to him, though, in case her opponent was anywhere nearby and might hear her. At least she wasn't all alone anymore.

-

Stinger stared down at the transport pad. He had just received word that his new opponent was located on the mountains. He was hesitating, almost considering not going because of his fear of heights. The mountains were tall and there were lots of cliffs you could misstep and they would crumble and send you plummeting to your doom...

He shuddered. The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became.

His camera bot began pushing him from behind. "C'mon, go."

"No, stop!" Stinger cried, digging his footclaws into the ground to prevent the bot from pushing him onto the pad. "I don't want to go! Let me stay here!"

Master interrupted and spoke to him. "You need to go." she encouraged him, "You will not succeed unless you go fight her. Be brave, face your fear."

Stinger let out a little whine of complaint, but none the less complied. He stepped onto the platform. Light enveloped him and he was transported to the mountains.

-

By this time, De had made it fairly far up the mountain. The snowstorm had picked up, making it considerably harder to see where she was going. She had held onto a wall to make sure she wasn't walking off the edge of a cliff when there was a bend in the path. The snow was almost up to her knees. In an attempt to keep snow out of her boots, De had pulled her pant legs over her boots. So far it was working, but she had cold, wet legs. She didn't dare remove her hands from her pockets.

The snow and wind slowed down for a moment and De opened her eyes wider so she could get a better look around. To her right was the rocky wall of the mountain she was leaning against and to her left was the edge of the cliff. The path was a little too narrow for De's liking, but at least she wasn't crushed up against the wall and scooting around a ledge.

She looked out past her nearby surroundings and to the scenery beyond. She caught a glimpse of what lay under a mass of dark grey clouds. The forest of trees she saw looked brown. The rapid weather change must have shocked the plants- maybe even frozen them solid. She wasn't there to sightsee though. She turned her attention to what lay ahead. The path rose steeply and De couldn't see over it. It looked as if it had been carved out of the rock because both sides of the path had walls.

De stepped forward and climbed over the rise. When she reached it, her heart nearly stopped.

-

De was overlooking what she estimated as at least three hundred meter drop with only a rickety rope bridge to cross to the other side on.

Luckily the snow had fallen through the cracks and blown off the sides, leaving the planks fairly visible, although it was still enough mask the possibly broken or splintering ones. De held onto the wall as she tested the first plank of the bridge. The whole thing creaked, but held fast as De put more and more of her weight on it She released her death grip on the rock wall and held onto the rope. She tested the next one before stepping onto it and continued in this fashion until she was standing in the middle of the bridge. She was all tensed up still and was trying to keep herself calm just when the breeze picked back up.

The bridge swayed and bobbed wildly in the gale. De was scared stiff. She didn't even breath until the bridge stopped moving entirely. Now she was panicking and not thinking clearly. She had to get off the bridge- and fast. Another strong gust might just blow her off the whole thing. She was almost to the other side. She could make it.

She tested the steps less and less carefully in her haste. This was a mistake.

She had not gone more than three steps when the plank snapped beneath her weight. The halves had not dislodged and fallen away completely, leaving her right leg trapped between two splintery pieces of wood.

"Nnnh..." De whined. She took one of her hands off the rope and tried pushing the one of the pieces away so she could get her leg out. It hurt, the edges scraping though her pants and cutting her leg. Splinters were left in her gloves. But then the wood fell away and she was free.

Shakily, she got to her feet. That moment of sheer fear had set her on edge again. She felt dizzy and kept looking back down at the deadly fall she had just barely avoided. Her heart was racing and her breath coming in little gasps. She could see, but she felt as if she were staring through a tunnel. She fought to stay conscious, but in the end she lost.

-

De opened her eyes in what she hoped was her last vision of the tournament. It was a memory she had nearly forgotten- the ball the Emperor had held not long before she had been sent off. She was sitting alone in the corner. At that time she had been cripplingly shy. She had not moved from the spot since she had gotten there and was considering leaving just before Ser came over to her and offered her a drink. In the memory, she hadn't noticed him putting anything into her drink, but this time she did. When he took the drinks from the server, he had dumped something into one of them.

As her memory self took the glass, De's heart raced, just as someone would if they knew another person was in danger. She sipped the drink and almost immediately became exhausted. She sat back down on the bench, holding her head. Ser sat next to her, rubbing her back gently and talking to her, though through the haze in her head she couldn't understand a single word of it. Then her memory self fell unconscious. The last thing De saw before the vision ended was Ser picking her up in his arms and carrying her out of the ballroom.

-

De woke up to the sound of someone sawing at rope and the bridge bouncing. She looked up and saw a Vortkin crouched down and cutting the bridge ropes with the tip of one of his PAK legs. His eyes were shut tight and he looked deathly afraid. He was shivering and shifting around almost constantly. De recognized him as the one her camera bot had shown her, Stinger.

"Stinger!" she barked, getting to her feet. Her opponent looked up at her like a scared animal. He had stopped moving entirely, meaning he was no longer cutting the rope, but the damage had been done. If De moved again she risked snapping the rope.

De's hold on the rope tightened and she continued across the bridge, but at the same time, Stinger started cutting the rope again.

"I see how it is." De grunted, "Not even going to exchange words with the Irken you're about to kill."

De dug in her satchel and took out the first thing her hand touched. It was a half empty bottle of pepper spray. She chucked it at Stinger. He threw up his PAK legs, keeping the canister from hitting his face. He watched as it bounced off and plummeted ground-ward and, finally, as it cracked down on the frozen, snow covered stream below.

De kept advancing. Stinger got scared and scrambled away on his spider legs.

"Gods above," De grumbled, relieved that he was now unable to finish cutting the rope. This wasn't the time to celebrate though, since the wind was howling through the valley again. It was just the encouragement the bridge needed to finally snap.

De was jolted as the bridge fell out from under her feet. Only the one side broke, leaving De clinging to the tangle of ropes above her head. Her legs dangled in midair. Her eyes were wide and she couldn't help but look down.

"Ah!" she gasped. She squirmed around, trying to reach the other arm up so she'd have a more firm hold on the rope. It took a few tires, but she was finally able to catch a hold of it. She turned her attention to getting across the rest of the way.

"Okay, this is just like monkey bars... Just like monkey bars..." she told herself. She swung her arm out, caught he next rope, and held on. She did the same thing with her other arm and repeated this until she could touch the rocky ledge. She held onto it and pulled herself up. She flopped down into the snow, panting. Now she didn't mind the icy burn of the snow, her body felt much too hot anyway.

She rested no more than a minute. Arms trembling, she pushed herself to her feet and chased after Stinger. He was long out of her sight by now. She reached the top of a little hill and saw that the terrain flattened out into about a circle shaped area. Cliff walls rose all around and it looked as if there was a spiral staircase around the whole area. Caves dotted the walls and in the middle was a large, iced over lake.

De shivered, it was strangely colder here, and whenever the wind blew through, a haunting melody played throughout the whole area. She pulled out her fighting staff and strapped her bag to her back. Her eyes surveyed the area for any sign of her opponent. There were footprints in the snow, as if Stinger had given up using his PAK legs and began walking again. De followed these and discovered they went in and out of most of the caves. She passed by each cave until she found one that did not have a set of exit prints. Based on the pattern, he was going to come out again.

This was De's chance. She pressed herself up against the wall just outside of the cave mouth so that Stinger wouldn't be able to see her. Within a minute, De could hear Stinger running out. She readied her staff.

The moment he set foot outside of the cave, De hit him in the head with the blunt end of her staff. It took him by surprise and he toppled over. For a second De thought she had the upper hand, but when an angry creature resembling a mountain lion rushed out. De jumped back and its sharp clawed feet barely missed Stinger and slid across the ice. It slipped around a little bit, trying to catch solid ground with its paw pads, allowing De to get a good look at it. Its fur was almost entirely light brown, except for the graying fur around its muzzle, signifying it was fairly old. Its fangs were large and ended in sharp points that could kill with a single bite. The one other thing she noticed that it had bloody foam dripping out of the side of its mouth.

"It-it's got r-rabies!" De stammered.

Stinger was just waking up and held his head as he sat up. "That's why I was running..." he grunted.

"Right... Temporary truce until we deal with this animal?" De asked quickly as she saw the lion regain control and come rushing back at them.

"Uh..!" Stinger didn't answer, jumping out of the way of the big cat, only just escaping its massive claws.

"I'll take that as a yes!" De grunted as she stepped back away from the animal that was turning now to face her. She held her staff defensively as she slowly stepped back away from it. It would not waste time playing her little back away game though. It chased her and she ran away, slipping on the ice and lying sprawled out there. She was sure that the mountain lion would get her now, but no.

Stinger was there in a flash, his bright PAK legs gleaming as they held him firm onto the ice and stabbed the wild lion in the side. Before the injuries got too severe, the mountain lion retreated into where it could safely get a foothold in the snow. It circled them slowly, head down and lips pulled back to where the two combatants could see all its rotten teeth.

De got to her feet, slipping slightly across the glassy surface and almost falling again. Stinger was much better off, with four extra appendages to keep him held in place. He looked cold though, shivering violently and his skin turning pale. His fighting spirit seemed to shine in this moment though, how he did not allow the weather to discourage him. He charged forward and the lion met him with open jaws.

He dodged at the last second, kicking the beast in the head and stabbing it again with his PAK legs. The mountain lion only gave him a moment to do so before it turned and bit at his leg, but missed and got a mouthful of air.

De had taken the moment that it was distracted and gotten nearer to it, making a swipe at it with the plasma blade at the end of her staff. This caught it by surprise and made it stumble back onto Stinger. The two of them were knocked to the ground, the mountain lion fighting to kill Stinger and for he to try to escape unharmed. Neither of these two things happened though.

The lion bit Stinger in the shoulder and tried shaking him around. Scared, Stinger activated his power gloves for the second time during the tournament and shocked the rabid mountain lion to death. The weapon had sapped his energy, and coupled with the icy cold of the snow and the weight of the lion corpse was enough to pull him into unconsciousness.

De had held her staff defensively for a while even after she saw that the lion was dead and her competitor seemed to be taking a nap. She slowly approached the two of them, too nervous to touch either of them. She nudged the lion off into the fresh white snow, and looked over her opponent. The teeth marks in his right shoulder were clear and some of the foam from the lions mouth had stuck to it. This was enough to make De gag, but she held back from vomiting. She didn't have the guts to kill him, defenseless and exposed to contract an illness as he was.

"He'll be dead soon anyway," she assured herself shakily as she gathered her things and proceeded to leave, "Everyone has to give up at some point."

--
It was no more than a few minutes passed that De had left him for dead, that Stinger twitched back to life, his Master's eerie song of encouragement stinging at the back of his skull.

De had climbed to the top of the spiral around the circular area she and Stinger had fought the mountain lion in and crossed another bridge onto yet another mountain ledge. It didn't take her long to come across another cave to nowhere that faced away from where the wind was gusting in from and sit down to tend her old wounds and clean her staff of the infected lion's blood. She was blissfully scrubbing away when she heard what sounded like a chant that was rising.

"Kill all opposing subjects…! Avoid death…!"

It was Stinger, repeating his objective like some kind of mantra. His voice grew stronger and clearer as he came closer to where De was. She was aware of this and quickly packed up all her stuff, carefully enough that the shifting around would not give away her position. She made her way to the back of the cave where she would be hidden by the shadows if he should look into the cave.

Just as the back of her foot touched the wall did Stinger peak around the corner, going quiet. He seemed skeptical of the emptiness of the cave and stepped inside cautiously. De regretted not being more careful about covering her tracks. She would remember that for next time. If there was a next time, that is.

De bent down slowly and removed a can of pepper spray from her satchel. She thanked God it didn't clank against other things. She held it in front of her and turned her face away, checking to see where Stinger was. He was only inches away from her when she sprayed her pepper spray in his face. He screamed and stumbled backwards, rubbing his eyes to try to get it out but making the irritation worse.

She swiped her staff at him, he leaning back just in time for it to miss him. His PAK legs shot out and he used them to move him backwards and out of the cave. De followed him, holding her staff up defensively. Stinger stopped just in the mouth of the cave, taking one of his PAK legs and trying to hit her with it. She blocked it. Sadly, she was unable to hold on to her weapon and it was pushed out of her hands and onto the ground. She was unable to retrieve it because the same PAK leg that had wrenched it from her grasp arched upwards and cut the skin between her eyes.

She jumped back too late and touched her head with her hand. She winced. There it was- hot blue blood and the pain to accompany it. There was no time to think about it because Stinger kept attacking. A swipe from the side, a stab from in front- he was not stopping. De dodged these attacks, managing to get into the sack on her back and get another weapon. She brought out a knife. When Stinger tried to inflict another wound on her with his PAK leg, De sidestepped it and brought her knife down on the end, cutting it off. Electricity from the cut wires hissed at her and jumped onto the knife, shooting up it and burning her left hand.

"Ah!" they both cried. Stinger retracted his PAK leg while De dropped her knife and nursed her burnt hand. Her gloves had practically fused onto her hand and the wedding ring concealed by it made the injury worse. De ducked under Stinger, barely avoiding another two stabs he made with his other PAK legs. She dove into the snow, pressing her hand into it and tried to get the burning sensation to go away. She tore her glove off, whining a little as her skin was exposed to the icy air. She didn't take the time to appreciate the burn yet, she still had to deal with her opponent. She got to her feet and made the bold decision… to run away.

She fled and Stinger followed, continuing to rely on his PAK legs to keep him stable and not to fall. De took no such precautions; she merely scrambled away, trying to keep her life. They climbed upwards, eventually reaching another rope bridge. Too bad for De that all of the planks inside of it had rotted and fallen away and she could no longer climb across. There was, however, another cave some ways down the sheer edge of the mountain. De formed a plan in her mind and quickly set to work.

She first cut off the rope on one side of the bridge. She caught a hold of the rope on the other side and began edging across to where she thought it would swing down and deposit her inside the cave. She sawed the rope in two and fell just as Stinger arrived.

Stinger watched as the female Irken plummeted through the sky and swung her into the cave mouth. He was about to follow, but he noticed that it was a pretty far ways down… Fear gripped his heart. He squeezed his eyes shut. He had to kill her but his fear of heights was barring him from continuing.

De lay face down in the cave she had landed in. She hurt all down her front, feeling like she had scraped herself up pretty badly. She took a minute to get herself back together. She pushed herself up to where she could sit and look at herself. She wiped the blood off her forehead and out of her eyes and examined herself.

Her right glove and pants had been ripped and both her hands and knees been skinned. Her right shoulder and breast hurt as if she had scraped them up as well. She wasn't going to check on that right now though. She had dropped her knife on entrance so that it wouldn't accidentally stab her. She felt around for it in the dark cave and when she found it she held it ready. Defensive actions were not a way to win in a fighting tournament.

She peered out of the cave and up at where Stinger was petrified with fear staring down at her. Or maybe he was just staring down in general. She couldn't tell. Then she saw him shake his head and step backwards. Was he going to jump? He seemed unsure of what he was going to do his own self.

Stinger was screaming at himself in his head. His fear of heights was so crippling. He cursed himself for being so scared!

"You haveve come this far. You have done so well." Master urged him, "It is just a little jump. You can do it."

Stinger bit his lip. He could not move. Oh, of all the places he had to fight, it had to be the mountains!

"Go! This was to test you! To help you get over your fears! Jump! You can do it!" Master continued.

Stinger whined. He had only a little more and then he could rest and get down from the mountain. He backed up and braced himself. He counted down to himself.

"3… 2… 1…"

He dashed forward, using his PAK legs to propel him forward. He had his eyes shut and PAK legs aimed in front of him to catch himself on the other side of the wall.

Clink!

He caught a hold of the other side successfully, though he kept his eyes shut. He didn't want to look down by accident and lose what little courage he had at the moment. He started down the side of the cliff to where De was.

De had watched him jump the chasm. He was not giving up. Her grip tightened on her knife as she heard the metallic clinks grow louder and nearer to her. Then there he was, stepping all the way down into her cave. This was her moment to act. He had yet to open his eyes when De rushed at him, knife held in a reverse grip. She plunged the knife into his midsection, knocking him backwards. His eyes shot open and mouth wide in a scream. He lost his hold on the rock wall and fell backwards. Down to the ground he plummeted with the knife still lodged in his stomach.

"I- I failed Master…! I'm sorry…!" he cried, his last words before he hit the rocks below and rolled down the mountain side.

De watched as he disappeared into the snow washed landscape before she retreated into her cave. All she wanted to do was curl up back in the cave and go to sleep…

And that's what she did for the next few hours it took her camera bot to find her. She was awoken by the bot poking her arm. De swatted it away, coughing into the back of her hand. Oh god, she was coming down with something. She hurt everywhere… The cold and the not sleeping in a bed and the irregular sleep patterns were getting to her.

"Aah I'm awake," she groaned, her voice sounding like a croak, "What is it?"

"Oh, um, it's freezing cold outside. Don't let me freeze!" it squeaked, diving under De's coat. It's metal against her shirt hurt and it connected to her clothes.

"Hey! No! Out! Augh!" De squealed as she tried to smack the robot away from her. She hit it just right so it bounced up and hit the ceiling of the cave and ricochet back down on the floor, where it stayed dazed. "…And stay out." De said.

At this same moment, an Irken with incredible timing called. De's communication device began to beep again. "Aw hell…" De muttered before answering it. "Hello?"

"De, I found out who the father is!" Paneece said over the connection.

"Let me stop you there, because I know too." De said.

"You do?"

"Yes. Er, I think I do. Let me guess before you tell me at least."

"Okay, guess."

De hesitated. She didn't like saying it aloud.

"I'm waiting…" Paneece hummed.

"Ugh… It's… Ser, isn't it?" De choked out.

"Yeah. All the way back from your time, buried within the deleted archives of a former scientist." Paneece confirmed.

De sighed heavily. There was her answer. She had thought it would be a relief to know who the father was finally, but she just felt disturbed- sickened at the thought that her former employer had done such a thing.

"Thanks Paneece." De grumbled, placing her head on her arm.

"No problem. Well, I'd better let you go. You still have a tournament to win! Good luck and get some rest." Paneece said.

"Yes mom." De grunted.

"Pppff," on the other end, the hacker Irken was rolling her eyes, "Bye De." She hung up.

"Bye." She pushed the button and put the communication device away.

Well, so much for a good night's sleep. Too much was bothering De- a sore throat, her burned hand, the truth about Ouri's dad… She sat up and scooted over to the opening of the cave and let her legs dangle out the side. The wind and snow had died down a lot at the moment, though she still shivered as she sat there. She reached up and held onto the bit of rope that hung down that she had cut to get to the cave in the first place. It would be her only way up and out for the next round of the accursed tournament. She prayed that it wouldn't freeze and become so brittle that it broke the moment she put her weight on it… and that she would still have enough strength to climb up it when morning came. Otherwise she'd be in a bad spot for her next opponent. Trapped in a Cliffside cave, ripe for her opponents taking! Ha!

She sighed again, looking up for any sign of a moon. Nothing. It was all clouds.

…It was going to be another long night.