I tripped as they pushed me up the steps, cutting my knee open on the concrete. I yelped, pressing my hand against my bleeding cut, but they kept pushing me forward, until I had no choice but to climb the stairs the best I could. I was a human. I didn't need another disadvantage in these games, and I'd just given myself a limp.

Every step I took filled my soul with more terror, the storms beating the waves of panic against my chest until I was sure the dam would break. I felt lightheaded and sick to my stomach, and the cement blob I'd eaten that morning churned nervously. My hands were shaking horribly, and I stumbled as I walked, my knees barely able to support my weight.

I hesitated at the top of the stairs, staring out into the blinding flood lights of the arena. I didn't belong out there. I belonged on the stands, cheering with the rest of my kind. I'd almost forgotten the thoughts I'd had the night before. I wasn't like these freaks. I was human. I had to get out of here.

They shoved me out and I squinted in the bright light, shielding my eyes with my hand. I felt completely exposed out here, like I'd been caught naked. Nothing was hidden. They could see everything.

"There has to be some sort of mistake," I said, frantically turning back to the soldiers. Instead of getting an answer, one of them shoved a long sword in my hands. Of all the weapons they could have given me, they had to give me a sword? What good would this pointy piece of metal do against something that could very well kill me with a single thought?

Tonight's stage was the maze - giant, metal walls with iron spikes at the top and bloody hand prints at the bottom from past contestants. It blocked my view of the other side of the arena, where the other fighter, the Unnatural was pushed out. The announcer addressed the crowd, introducing Laszlo, and I tried desperately to remember what his power was. I didn't remember ever seeing him fight. That most likely meant that he was new, that they were going easy on me, even though easy seemed like it was aimed at my opponent - that it'd be easy to kill me.

They called my alias, Rogue, as if I'd been there for years, and the crowd went silent. I looked up at the screens they floated around the perimeter and saw my own wide-eyed, pale face staring back at me. The silence lasted for another minute, and then one person screamed out the worst insult I had ever heard, the crowd immediately followed their lead, shouting and jeering, mocking me. I saw my face flush red on the screen and ducked my head, adjusting my clammy grip on the sword they'd given me.

"I'm one of you," I whispered, but no one could hear me. I could barely hear myself.

The gates slammed shut behind me and the announcer began the round, threatening to bring out the monsters if we took too long to kill each other. Even so, I stayed frozen by the gate for a long minute, staring into the dark maze, its gaping jaws ready to swallow me whole. If I went in there, I knew I'd never come out.

Something electric jabbed the small of my back, making me shriek and stumble forward, and the crowd laughed at me. I glanced back as the soldier pulled his spear back into the safety of the gate, and swallowed nervously. I had no choice. I had to move forward. I glanced up at the screen and watched Laszlo run through the maze, though I couldn't tell if he was coming toward me or trying to hide himself deeper inside. His frantic but determined expression told me that it was most likely the first - which meant I had to do the second.

Without thinking, I took off into the maze, the sword waving awkwardly behind me as I ran. I let my pure, overwhelming terror guide me deeper inside, around twists and turns until I was utterly lost. I rounded a corner too sharp and tripped over myself, barely avoiding impaling myself with the sword. I laid on the ground for a moment, trying to catch my breath, and noticed terrified tears stinging my face and burning in my eyes. I didn't want to die. Each breath set fire to my lungs, and I could taste blood in my mouth. I'd already wasted all my energy. I was a complete idiot.

I suddenly felt a tug, a pull like a magnet, start to drag the sword away. I quickly snatched it up and held it close to my body. I didn't want to lose the only protection I had. Maybe I'd get lucky and the monsters would kill Laszlo first.

The tug pulled harder, and I could feel it on me, as well. I started to slip and lose my grip on the ground, and my heart nearly burst out of my chest. I didn't blame it. I wanted to be anywhere but here. What was going on? Why was I moving?

I suddenly jerked toward the wall with incredible speed and slammed into it with a thump and a cry of pain. I couldn't move. I couldn't even lift my arms. I'd seen a power like this, a while ago. It was something with gravity, if I remembered correctly, and because I wasn't metal, it wasn't a magnetic field. I also remembered how the Unnatural with that power had killed the other - by crushing her to death. I prayed with all of my existence that Laszlo didn't think of that.

It was getting harder to breathe, and I gave more frantic attempts to free myself. I could feel myself sweating a river, though I felt like I was freezing. My head felt like it was going to explode, and I wondered if my blood was following the pull of gravity, as well. If it did, maybe that would kill me sooner. I tried to clench my fists, if only to attempt to relieve the pain, but I couldn't pull my fingers away from the wall.

The crowd was going wild. I could just barely see a screen from this angle. I saw myself on one side, red faced and completely immobile, and Laszlo on the other, a few halls away, wandering as if he had no idea what he was doing to me. I tried to say something, even let out a tiny gasp of pain, just to alert him I was here, but nothing came out. I was stuck. I couldn't breathe. My chest felt like it was crushing in, and my thoughts were frantic and disorganized. My vision started to drop, and I had to accept that I was finished. Then Laszlo began to move away, and his artificial gravitational pull started to weaken. Eventually, I had enough weight toward the earth that I fell off of the wall completely, hitting the ground with a thump and staying there, gasping for breath.

As the screaming of the crowd grew louder, worsening my oncoming headache, I remembered something Leo told me before they took me away. "You gotta do something unexpected. That's how you win."

I grabbed my sword in one hand and staggered to my feet, an idea suddenly coming to me. Laszlo was going to keep that pull on until he killed me. That much I knew. I adjusted my grip and started running. I needed to get around him and into the same hallway. We needed to be close.

The only problem - this was a maze. I had to find my way around towards him without getting stuck.

I felt his pull more often when I started looking, and ended up pressed against the wall a few more times. Finally, I saw it - my chance to get him. I rounded a corner and quickly backed up as he came into view, hoping he hadn't seen me. I needed to quickly figure out how to -

Too late.

I started slipping, coming toward him, and I realized that it was now or never. I launched myself toward him with a scream of half terror, half fury, and held my sword straight out as I shot toward him like a bullet. His eyes widened as he realized what I was doing, and then he tried to stop his power, tried to dodge me, but it was too late.

My sword ran right through his stomach and out his back, and then our bodies collided and I knocked him over. His power finally vanished and the earth brought us down, twisting my blade inside his gut. He screamed loud enough to wake the dead and tried to curl up to protect himself, but only succeeded in digging the sword deeper.

It took me a moment to comprehend what had happened, and the second I realized what I had done, I jumped backwards and tripped over myself, forgetting to let go of the blade. I should have dropped it, left it inside of him, but in my panic, I yanked it out. He tried to scream again, convulsing in agony, and all I could do was stare at him.

I had done this.

I had killed another person.

He was sobbing now, on his side, both hands squeezing his stomach in a vain attempt to save himself. He lurched and vomited, blood pouring out of his mouth, out of his gut, everywhere.

I dropped my sword on the ground and covered my mouth with my hands. I was a murderer. I was a cold blooded murderer. He looked younger than me by a few years, maybe sixteen or seventeen - too young to die. I'd killed him.

The crowd started a chant that rose louder than anything else. "Finish him! Finish him! Finish him! Finish him!"

"I'm so sorry," I whispered. I didn't know what to do. All I could do was stare in shock. At last, I bent over and picked up my sword. It physically hurt me to watch him suffer like this. It left a great ache, a great agony in my heart. The only way to relieve him of his pain was to kill him. I gently rested the sword point on his chest, above his heart, as if asking for permission, and he stared at me with frantic eyes filled with more pain and torment than I'd ever seen in one person. We seemed to communicate perfectly without words, and I glanced up to see the Refs giving me a thumbs down - permission to kill. I didn't need their permission. I'd already gotten permission from the one person it affected. I closed my eyes and plunged the sword down into Laszlo's chest, and with only a quiet gasp for breath, he shuddered and went still.