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“That,” said Ireny in the sudden silence, “was ████ing amazing.”

“I can’t believe I just did that,” said Leafy shakily. “I mean, I wasn’t even really thinking about it, it just seemed like the only thing I could do--”

“Dude,” said Ireny, and put a paw on Leafy’s shoulder, and looked into her black button eyes. Which was really weird, but then again weirder things had happened today. “Dude, you kicked so much ass. It was awesome. You’re awesome.”

Leafy didn’t relax, exactly, but she did look down and smile a little. “What was that thing, anyway? Behind the hatch that exploded? I didn’t get a good look at it.”

Ireny thought: our mascot is a bear. Aloud she said, very carefully, because she had to focus on things she was saying, because if she didn’t she’d start screaming: “Probably nothing. It doesn’t really matter.”

“I guess not,” said Leafy, and fell silent again. After a moment, her watch chimed, and she stuck it out so Ireny could see it, too.

ROUND 3 WINNER, read the display. IRENY.

“Wait,” said Ireny. “What? How is that even possible?”

“I guess it’s because you had more time left on the clock before I hacked their timers,” said Leafy. Weirdly enough, she didn’t seem angry about it.

Ireny shook her head. “No, that’s not what I mean! How are either of us still in the tournament? We tried hacking into their security feed, we wasted their time, you exploded an arena...by all rights, neither of us should even be up for consideration!”

“I did wonder about that before the round,” said Leafy thoughtfully. “If I’d caught us trying to mess with the feed, I wouldn’t even have given us a chance to compete.”

“Exactly!” Ireny waved her paws. “And you mentioned your friend from the first round was still hanging around! Why? What do they get out of keeping us all here?”

They fell silent. The sun had begun to peek over the horizon. From their vantage point they could see nothing but a lone road, winding past the Facility, up over gently rolling hills, and into the foggy distance.

“Looks like we’re stuck here for now,” said Leafy quietly. “Whatever the reason for it is.”

“Yeah.” Ireny hesitated, then ventured, “Listen, there’s no reason for you to tell me, and you can totally tell me to ████ off if you don’t want to answer. But back there, when you--with the orcs, and--”

Leafy shook her head. “It’s okay. If you’re going to go on to the next round, you might as well know.”

The sun was fully up by the time she finished. Ireny stared at her for a long while after that, trying to collect her thoughts and clearly failing.

“You died,” she said eventually.

“Not really,” said Leafy, and tried to smile. “Well, technically I did, I think my heart stopped beating at some point. But I got better.”

“So not the point,” said Ireny. “You died. Dude, if I’d known, I would’ve thrown the match to begin with! I’m pretty sure dying for a book deal means you deserve to win it! And also, you know, is grounds for a lawsuit.”

“I’d say it doesn’t matter now, but you know it does,” said Leafy. “It’s...it’ll be okay. It’s a thing that happened. I’m still trying to figure out why, but it looks like I’ve got time for that now.”

Ireny nodded. There didn’t seem to be much you could say in response to that. Where did you even begin? 'I'm sorry you died' seemed a little on the insensitive side. 'I'm sorry we're both stuck in a building that seems to be intent on achieving as much mental trauma as possible for very little gain' didn't seem much better.

I'm going to bust this thing wide open, she thought. I'm going to take it down brick by brick. It's the least I can do.

She stuck out a paw. “Good luck,” she said, and meant it.

Leafy shook it with a squishy paw of her own. “I’ll still be here, anyway,” she said. “The signal led up here, didn’t it? If nothing else, Jay and I can do some poking around while the higher-ups are distracted by you guys.”

Ireny grinned. “I’m not too shabby at making things explode myself. See you around, Leafy.”

A salute, and then she dropped smoothly onto the roof. From there it was a straight shot to the door, and then back into the depths of the Facility, where a few friends and more than a few enemies were waiting.

She’d just have to hope she met the former before she met the latter.

FIN

Description
“That,” said Ireny in the sudden silence, “was ████ing amazing.”

“I can’t believe I just did that,” said Leafy shakily. “I mean, I wasn’t even really thinking about it, it just seemed like the only thing I could do--”

“Dude,” said Ireny, and put a paw on Leafy’s shoulder, and looked into her black button eyes. Which was really weird, but then again weirder things had happened today. “Dude, you kicked so much ass. It was awesome. You’re awesome.”

Leafy didn’t relax, exactly, but she did look down and smile a little. “What was that thing, anyway? Behind the hatch that exploded? I didn’t get a good look at it.”

Ireny thought: our mascot is a bear. Aloud she said, very carefully, because she had to focus on things she was saying, because if she didn’t she’d start screaming: “Probably nothing. It doesn’t really matter.”

“I guess not,” said Leafy, and fell silent again. After a moment, her watch chimed, and she stuck it out so Ireny could see it, too.

ROUND 3 WINNER, read the display. IRENY.

“Wait,” said Ireny. “What? How is that even possible?”

“I guess it’s because you had more time left on the clock before I hacked their timers,” said Leafy. Weirdly enough, she didn’t seem angry about it.

Ireny shook her head. “No, that’s not what I mean! How are either of us still in the tournament? We tried hacking into their security feed, we wasted their time, you exploded an arena...by all rights, neither of us should even be up for consideration!”

“I did wonder about that before the round,” said Leafy thoughtfully. “If I’d caught us trying to mess with the feed, I wouldn’t even have given us a chance to compete.”

“Exactly!” Ireny waved her paws. “And you mentioned your friend from the first round was still hanging around! Why? What do they get out of keeping us all here?”

They fell silent. The sun had begun to peek over the horizon. From their vantage point they could see nothing but a lone road, winding past the Facility, up over gently rolling hills, and into the foggy distance.

“Looks like we’re stuck here for now,” said Leafy quietly. “Whatever the reason for it is.”

“Yeah.” Ireny hesitated, then ventured, “Listen, there’s no reason for you to tell me, and you can totally tell me to ████ off if you don’t want to answer. But back there, when you--with the orcs, and--”

Leafy shook her head. “It’s okay. If you’re going to go on to the next round, you might as well know.”

The sun was fully up by the time she finished. Ireny stared at her for a long while after that, trying to collect her thoughts and clearly failing.

“You died,” she said eventually.

“Not really,” said Leafy, and tried to smile. “Well, technically I did, I think my heart stopped beating at some point. But I got better.”

“So not the point,” said Ireny. “You died. Dude, if I’d known, I would’ve thrown the match to begin with! I’m pretty sure dying for a book deal means you deserve to win it! And also, you know, is grounds for a lawsuit.”

“I’d say it doesn’t matter now, but you know it does,” said Leafy. “It’s...it’ll be okay. It’s a thing that happened. I’m still trying to figure out why, but it looks like I’ve got time for that now.”

Ireny nodded. There didn’t seem to be much you could say in response to that. Where did you even begin? 'I'm sorry you died' seemed a little on the insensitive side. 'I'm sorry we're both stuck in a building that seems to be intent on achieving as much mental trauma as possible for very little gain' didn't seem much better.

I'm going to bust this thing wide open, she thought. I'm going to take it down brick by brick. It's the least I can do.

She stuck out a paw. “Good luck,” she said, and meant it.

Leafy shook it with a squishy paw of her own. “I’ll still be here, anyway,” she said. “The signal led up here, didn’t it? If nothing else, Jay and I can do some poking around while the higher-ups are distracted by you guys.”

Ireny grinned. “I’m not too shabby at making things explode myself. See you around, Leafy.”

A salute, and then she dropped smoothly onto the roof. From there it was a straight shot to the door, and then back into the depths of the Facility, where a few friends and more than a few enemies were waiting.

She’d just have to hope she met the former before she met the latter.

FIN