"Hey calm down, you get any more excited and you are going to jump through the roof.

Sunny turned her head down at him rather scathingly, "If i told you that ever time you got excited, we would never talk about anything else." Ahead of them, the line shifted a little bit forward, bodies pressed together in a great clamour to get inside. Voices were raised, and –even from out here– they could hear the raring of the Crowds.

Sunny bounced excitedly on the balls of her feet as they made their way the last few feet to the gate.

A human attendant was waiting for them holding some kind of scanning machines, "Tickets." He prompted

Adam grinned and pulled two tickets from his pocket, "Make that VIP."

The man looked over the tickets with surprise, raising an eyebrow, "You could have come through the VIP entrance."

Adam frowned, "Uh, I didn't know they had one." The man shrugged, scanned their tickets and then waved them through. Sunny practically skipped through as Adam followed after. THey wandered through the bowels of the massive concrete stadium for a few minutes, where, on all sides there were booths of souvenirs, food, and drinks.

Adam took the time to buy Sunny a souvenir before they made their way up and into the Stadium, pushing down through the benches to where their seats were, right at the front before the caged arena.

Medical crews were busy setting up around the outside of the cage.

Sunny took her seat in excitement.

Adam leaned down hand on her shoulder, forced to get close to her ear so he could talk over the roaring of the crowd, "I need to find a bathroom, but I'll be back."

She nodded barely turning her head to look at him as he stood and made his way back up the dark steps and back onto the concourse where the crowds were only growing more dense.

He pushed his way through trying to determine where someone might hide a bathroom.

He felt like it should be this hard with so many people, but didn't see anything. Granted a few times he got distracted by something interesting and had to go see, but eventually he saw a small hallway just off the concourse, and determined that that was as good a place as any took look. There was no one in the little passage, but that didn't really strike him as odd as he made his way down the stairs.

That led him into another long hallway, which was also dark and devoid of people. He was growing suspicious that maybe this wasn't the right way to go, when a light just up ahead caught his attention, shining off a tile floor.

Ah there it was!

He hurried forward in relief finishing his business and intending to go back upstairs when a voice echoed at him from the hallway.

"They WHAT!"

"I'm s-s-rry sir t-they canceled and w... w-w-w."

"Oh shut up!" THe other voice snarled. We don't have time for this. There is an entire crowd out there just waiting for us, and now you're telling me that they had to cancel."

"I.... we have other options sir."

"None as good as we promised." The man shot back

Adam looked nervously around the room he was standing in peeking around the concrete corner and into a large locker room.

Whoopse.

This was.... Not a public bathroom.

That was ok thought, no harm no fowl and he could just walk out quietly without anyone being the wiser.

He went to turn around and nearly leaped out of his skin almost running into a young man and a spiffy suit, "What are you doing-" The young man's voice trailed off at the last moment and his eyes grew wide in recognition. A mix of expressions crossed his face before it hardened. He grabbed Adam by the arm, "Come with me, sir."

Adam opened his mouth to protest, but was hauled around the corner to where the other two men were standing, and they cut off as he did.

"What is-"

"Who-"

The men must have recognized him at approximately the same time.

The young man aggressively held up Adam's hand, turning it to show the back, "I think we will be ok."

Adam yelped in pain and snatched his hand back, "Hey, what's the big idea."

The one man, who he assumed to be the boss looked him over, "Say yes."

It was at that moment that Adam's brain went and did that thing that it sometimes did when he was nervous or caught off guard.... That being that it just shut off and decided to take a vacation. He had gotten to the point where it no longer did that in combat, but in social situations it just went and shut right off.

For that reason, he stuttered around for a few seconds before his brain did the only thing it could at the present moment, "Y-yes?"
The man clapped his hands, "Excellent!"

He grabbed Adam by the arm and hauled him back into the dark with Adam only lightly protesting, to confused to do anything else.

Krill was going to be pissed if he got kidnapped again.

Was this a kidnapping?

He couldn't tell.

Why was he so stupid? By the time he had begun asking himself that question they were already in a little dark room just off the side, a bunch of attendants ran forward and before he knew what was going on there, one of them had pulled off his jacket, and another had taken a pair of scissors to his shirt.

He yelped in indignation and protest, but before he could do anything about it, the rest had gotten to work, and he was suddenly shoved back. He expected to hit the wall but instead he heard a sharp whirring noise and there was a sudden shock of cold through his body as the Iron eye suit clicked into place at the base of his spine. His feet and arms were pressed back clicking repeatedly up and down his arms as the implants were connected.

Someone grabbed his hand and fitted the the bracer around his wrists, fitting his fingers into the sockets of the hand piece.

The man stepped forward, "Thank you for volunteering Admiral, you may just have saved the night."

Adam's head was clearing now, "Now hold the fuck on, I didn't agree to anything."

The younger man moved forward, "Actually you agreed verbally, you said yes. He held up a piece of paper, "Now this is your contract. A single night a single fight, your debut fight against the slayer."

"The WHO?" He squeaked

There was another sharp whirring noise as the iron-eye suit was hooked to the power source – his leg–, and he felt the machine as it booted up.

More attendants moved forward to socket large armor plating into palace.

"Now the rules are simple, no eye gouging shots below the belt, or headshots, also not headbutting or neck twisting."

"Wait! What!"

HE struggled, but the iron eye armor held him fast, having not been engaged yet.

The armor plates retraced and slid into a large line along his back, leaving his chest, arms and legs exposed for the time being.

"Try to make it a good fight, Admiral, the people are counting on you."

"Counting on you to lose fantastically, but fantastically being the key word ."

The men stepped back, and there was a subtle whirring. He jolted forward as the mounted iron eye armor was pulled on rails across the ceiling and towards a door on the far wall. His eyes were wide, and he screamed for help, but the closer he got to the door the louder he could hear the cheering.

He paused for a second in front of the door.

"And now let's welcome our challenger! A special treat for the audience, you all know him, you all love him. Protector of Earth, Knight of the GA, please welcome ADMIRAL VIR" The doors opened, and he had to turn his head against the bright light. The room was filled with gasps and then an eruption of cheering.

As his eyes adjusted, he looked up at the crowd trying to scream for help, though no one heard him.

He turned his head desperately searching the crowd for Sunny. He found her easily enough, as her seat was close. He tried to scream for help, but by the look on her face and the clapping of her hands he was horrified to see that she probably assumed he did this on purpose.

He tried yelling again but it was no use.

"And now the moment you have all been waiting for. Please help me to welcome back our reigning champion, mistress of mayhem, duchess of destruction, countess of calamity. Your reigning champion THE SLAYER!"

At the far end of the cage, he watched in shock, awe and, terror as the doors opened. Even over the roaring of the crowd he could hear the whirring of the iron eye suit before he saw it, could hear the clattering of metal boots against they round, and then watched wide eyed as the woman stormed onto the floor screaming and bellowing like an animal her arms raised into the air as the crowd absolutely lost their minds.

She circled the ring fists raised, and in that time he noticed..... One missing arm, and one missing leg.

His heart stopped in his chest.

He.... he recognized her.

He didn't know her name, but he KNEW that face, he had SEEN her in the triage tent during the Drev war.

She was one of the steel-eye soldiers.

"Now everyone stand back from the cage. There was a sudden crackling noise and he watched in awe as the chain link was suddenly sparking with power, and a blue purple barrier flashed into existence, technology he recognized as cruel shielding.

That shielding had originally been designed to protect spaceships from high speed impacts. What kind of fight were they expecting?

He felt a jolt, and staggered forward as the suit was released and powered on giving control over to him.

"Make it a clean fight kids."

He was about to try and run to the edge of the cage and scream for help, but at that moment, he heard a sharp metal crack and turned around to see that the slayer's armor was down, and she was racing towards him.

He just had time to engage the steel plates which snapped down over his body before she was on him, punching him in the chest with an impact that would have killed him.

He was knocked backwards slamming to the ground and rolling over once with the power of the impact.

The crowd cheered and ooohed.

He rolled onto his back just in time to see her coming at him again, and through the orange-tinted visor of the helmet she could see the look on her face, an expression of pure rage.

She drew back her leg and slammed it down. He rolled to the side as he foot cracked against the floor. He pressed his hand against the floor pushing hard up and sending himself sailing through the air the servo motors and hydraulics roared as he used a single arm to toss himself up right.

He landed in a stagger and turned just in time to see her coming at him again. He dodged once and then twice as her fists blazed past him.

The crowd screamed.

She kept coming her rage coming out in her punches and kicks, powerful and continual with no stopping, but sloppy choosing quantity over quality.

He dodged to the right spring loading his legs and then threw his upward power into an uppercut punch that would have taken her head off if there was no armor. She was lifted nearly two feet off the ground with the power of his punch, and the clatter of metal on metal blasted through the stadium, She fell back slamming into the floor as the crowd roared.

He came after her, throwing himself over her and raising his fist back, punching at her shoulders and chest. Metal squealed.

Behind her visor, she roared, and somehow managed to bring her leg up.

He was kicked so hard in the chest, he thought for a moment his ribcage had been broken. It was such a powerful kick that it sent him across the ring and slamming into the barrier. There was a burst of bright blue as the shields flared.

His mouth opened and closed like a fish trying to suck in air, though his diaphragm would not cooperate.

Using her hands and pushing back against the ground, she flipped herself into the air and back ont other feet before running at him.

He rolled to the side as her fist slammed against the barrier sending another wave of blue up and around them.

He kicked upward from the ground, hitting one of her hips and sending HER backward into the shields.

It didn't knock her over, but now they were both on their feet.

The next time they connected, it was with the sound of thunder as the Iron eye armor drove the two of them to greater feets of strength and aggression. The surge of puer adrenaline and power that the suit afforded it's user had sent them both into a frenzy.

At every moment he couldn't be sure if he was seeing the red ashen sky of anin, or the blue barrier of the cage.

He screamed, catching her a devastating body shot, but the slayer came back with a knee to his chest and he skidded back across the floor. They were fifteen feet apart now. There was barely a pause before the two of them leaped towards each other soaring into the air and slamming up against each other with a thunderous clatter. His Kick hit first, a devastating shot to the pelvis that thrashed her back against the cage before slamming face first into the ground. HE hit the ground with an impact that should have broken his legs, but inside liquid shock absorbers protected his very human body.

He stormed forward as she rolled to her hands and knees.

Something was sparking and the plate above her right thigh was cracked

That didn't stop her and from her knees she lunged forward grabbing him around the waist and sending the two of them rolling across the cage exchanging punches and blows.

He hit his back and she drew back her fists repeatedly punching at his armor. He looked up as she hammered against the armor. He heard the screaming, animalistic, desperate, choking.... The same noises he himself had made on Anin.... Likeshe had never escaped that battleground.

But it was the expression on her face that did it for him. The eyes somewhere far away, the lips twisted into an expression of pain,

He grew sick, and the anger faded away from him replaced with cold clarity like he had been doused with ice.

With his newfound clarity, he pulled back and used both arms to slam into her chest. She was thrown backward, and he rose to his feet, his chest armor sparking and dented.

She raced towards him again, but he used the reinforced forearms to block her punches with ease.

The more he blocked her the angrier she grew until her fighting, while horrifically powerful was no more than desperate swinging.

His eyes fell on the power source.

Her left leg, opposite to his.

It wasn't Steel eye, a good facsimile, but not perfect.

And with all the power he had he snapped in a sharp circle delivering a low round kick to the side of her prosthetic knee.

His suspicion of it not being steel eye was proven correct as the entire leg absolutely exploded under the impact of a real steel-eye prosthetic. Metal erupted in all directions peppering the cage with little flashes of blue light while the lower half of the limb was snapped cleanly in half. The sound it made was horrendous. As soon as her power source was destroyed she felt to the ground helpless.

The crowd sat in stunned silence for a moment before an eruption of cheers rose around them

He stood unsteadily on his feet shaking slightly.

He could hear the roaring of the announcer overhead proclaiming his victory but he only had eyes for her as, with a sharp hissing the suit plates pulled back, and the plugs were released. She ripped herself away from the armor, leaving it like a shell on the ground behind her. Without a leg she was left on her hands and knees.

She was so small, probably no more than five foot four to his six two.

Her hands were pulled into gnarled claws fingers digging into the floor below her, She forced herself to her feet with one arm and hopped and staggered her way from the arena holding onto the wall with her hands.

While the cheering was still going, he ignored it and followed after her. With a simple thought, the panels opened up before him, and the connections released, allowing him to walk out of the suit in a way that he could never have walked away from a steel eye.

He followed after her the cheering echoing in his head closed off as the door hissed shut behind him.

He found her sitting on a bench in what must have been the women's locker room her head in her hands shaking violently like a leaf. He felt her pain shaking himself like he hadn't done in ages as the post traumatic stress reared its ugly head woken from its dormancy.

He took a few deep breaths and walked over to sit next to her.

She was curled up her arms around herself.

He didn't try to touch her, he knew it would only startle her

When she esteemed finally to calm down after long minutes, he felt his own voice raspy and strained, "I am.... So sorry I.... I didn't agree to this."

"Than you're a coward." She hissed

Her words didn't sting, and when she looked up he saw her eyes tormented and in pain.

It made him sick. He reached out a hand placing it on her shoulder.

She locked eyes with him, and he saw something in hers that he had seen in the mirror years ago. It made him hurt to see it. He had barely survived that pain, and here she was carrying it years later, far longer than him.

He couldn't help himself, He reached out and hugged her, hugged her tight, "I know what you're feeling." He said

She didn't struggle against him, and instead he felt warm tears drip onto his skin, "Why won't it go away." She whispered, "Why won't the pain go away. I'm so scared and angry all the time and I can't.... Let it go. It's like I can't breathe. Every day I just say, if I can just beat one more person, if I can just prove to myself that I am the strongest, that nothing can hurt me than maybe I won't be so afraid."

He patted her back with one hand and listened.

Her words were familiar, and her pain brought tears to his own eyes which he didn't bother to fight. That wasn't the point, this was about feeling someone else's pain, not proving how strong he was.

When she looked back at him, both of their faces were streaked with tears.

She seemed surprised, "How did you do it..... How did you get away."

He paused and there was silence for a moment, "Because of a dog.... And because I.... stopped trying to fight. Fighting is a reaction of a body who is scared, can't be scared of something you are friends with."

She looked up at him surprised and in pain, "You're a braver man than me."

Just then the door at the opposite end of the room was thrown open and she stormed in, "Adam, Adam are you alright."

The slayer.... For he didn't know her name, took one look at Sunny and tried leaping to her feet eyes wide in anger and fear." Sunny pulled to a halt and Adam grabbed her hand.

"Calm down, stop! She's with me."

The slayer shot him an accusatory glance quickly wiping tears from her face, "HOW COULD YOU! HOW COULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH A SCARAB" She snarled

Adam felt his ears go red, "DON'T TALK ABOUT HER LIKE THAT."

"HOW COULD YOU.:

"BECAUSE I LOVE HER!"

The words had passed from his lips before he even realized what he had said. And he clapped a hand over his mouth even as the room went silent. The slayer stared at him wide eyed.

He knew what he had done. He took her arms, "Look, I.... I know what you might be thinking but, it's more complicated. After the war I was a broken man, but I had a good support system, I got a dog and I calmed down enough to go back to work. For a little while I volunteered at an oxy clinic. There was a Drev there who had been injured during the war, and I.... I had to face my fears." he paused, "We got along really well, and then I met sunny.... I tried to kill her at first, but then we saved each other's lives a time or two. I spent some time with a Drev clan, learning about the war from their side. I'm Sentinel of a Drev clan now and I know their language."

He stood, "Sure, I'll never get away from the war completely, but I think I have gone as far as I can go, and I think you can too."

The woman paused, and he expected anger, but she looked too tired to express anger and simply sat staring at Sunny.

He wasn't sure what they would do, but then, to his surprise, Sunny stepped forward, her footsteps very cautious. When she got closer she knelt on the ground so she was no taller than the slayer. Her movements were slow.

"My name is Sunny, my father died during the war and my brother was permanently crippled. My clan was all but destroyed." She paused then, "What is your name."

The slayer paused, "Jane, my name is Jane." Then with one shaking hand she reached out.

Sunny took the offered hand gently, her hand steady, "You are a true warrior Jane, but perhaps it is time to put down your weapons."

All three of them nearly jumped out of their skin as the door flew open at the other end of the room.

"Glorious! Exciting! A real upset!" The man paused suddenly in fear as Adam and Sunny stood. If his face showed the anger that he felt inside then this man SHOULD be scared.

He moved forward, but Sunny beat him to it, lifting him by the front of his suit and slamming him against the wall, "You are an exploitative coward with no honor."

Adam crossed his arms over his chest, "I would have called you a raging fuckwit, but I guess that works too. I think the UNSC would have something to say abut you exploiting veterans." He leaned up on his toes, "So why don't you and I have a talk."