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A-Three took a step back, watching as Fiver fell. Ah gods, well wasn't that just wondrous? That was exactly what he didn't want to happen, thank you just the same. Flicking the mess off his blade, he calmly retreated. His cause had fallen down in a screaming mass of doomed agony, and had then managed to finish himself off. Next time, he'd have to make sure to pick someone nice and docile. Possibly Z4? Hmm. He was promising, but also potentially useless. Z5 didn't seem too bad, but then...he might just run screaming after this fight.

Yes, that was all there was to it. He'd lost faith in humanity.

Now...was someone going to finish A10 off? That would be splendid retribution.

He was almost going to miss Fiver.

Zeta One froze as she heard the crunch and the body of one of the Alphas fell over. Time seemed to stop around her, and she took a shaky breath from under her mask. She was back to the timid, quiet girl she'd been when she woke up, and she fought to keep standing.

He was dead. Just like that.

Visions of her own mortality flashed in front of her eyes and she swayed slightly, grip on her nunchucks loosening for a moment. She had to survive... but she couldn't kill for it. Mere moments ago, she'd been almost excited to try to help defend her own and hit someone upside the head. Now... now she just wanted to go back to sleep.

And never wake up again.

She stayed with Zeta Six and Ten, glancing around worriedly.

((Goin' to bed guys. I'll be back sometime tomorrow. smile ))

Zeta Five's entire world came to an Earth shattering stop. He heard the crack and saw Alpha Five hit the ground before he even registed that he'd stop mid-attack.

He dropped his mace and instantly went to his comrade. "Fiver?" He shook the other male. The body did nothing but his head fell lifelessly back... in the wrong position. He felt bile creep up his throat. Oh, no. Oh god no.

"Fiver... quit... playing around." It was a beg as he shook him again. He didn't dare remove the mask. If the other man was alive he-he'd die faster. "Ho...hold on, Fiver. I... I've got my first aid kit. I'll... I'll just use it and..." He fumbled to grab it from his bag. Tears were blurring his vision, trapped behind the mask.

He spilled his kit but didn't dare let Fiver leave his arms. "No! Just... just..." He stretched as far as he could but he could feel it. He knew even as his hand gripped the medical tape, his hands were shaking so hard he fumbled it again before successfully grasping it.

He knew. He clutched it in his hand before pulling Fiver's body closer to his own and rocked slightly.

Then he heard Alpha Four's smug words. He turned his head not daring to put down the body. "You ******** RETARD! You broke his ******** NECK!" He shouted his voice coming out hoarse and strained.

He jerked the body away from anyone daring to come try and check on it. He wasn't letting these freaks NEAR Fiver. They didn't deserve to be. Even the ones that helped him were viewed as enemies now.

Roughly he shoved everything into his kit again. "You... you ******** stay back. All of you! Don't you even come NEAR us! You're all INSANE!" He brought his fingers to brush the mask.

"I'm not letting them near you..."

A-Twelve had been late to the action, her hands shielding her eyes. When she did part her fingers, eyes stared through red goggles to see .. an alpha member meet his doom. The sounds of a sickening crunch-- It wasn't the crunch of a sea shell or a weapon. For some reason, a human bone and it's fragile state being shattered resonated most loudly of all. T-This wasn't supposed to be happen.

T-They weren't supposed to .. Not at each other.

Never a-at each other.

Even though one could debate both sides of the fight and the reasons for it, A-Twelve's heart broke in two. Knees buckled, meeting the ground, her hands placed over her ears and partially her eyes. Silent choking sobs erupted softly from the Alpha Female, the sight of Fiver's broken neck was numbing to her senses.

It wasn't clear who she sided with. Perhaps one. Perhaps both. Perhaps neither.

Struck down by a suit bearing the victim's own colors. Watching the scene unfolding in a silent trance, it was as if time had slowed to a chilly crawl. He saw the flash of a mace, and before the weapon ever connected, before the dull crunching of spinal column resonated thick amidst the fog, he knew. Rather than flinch or look away, however, Z3's eyes remained fixed on the fallen form of Alpha Five as he fell, hitting the ground like a sack of wet potatoes. Perhaps if the face had been visible, he would've felt something more powerfully emotive, but...

No.

A fallen body meant the sacrifice had been made. For a moment, he looked back to the one who'd dealt the last blow, and then the demon horse who'd 'provoked' it in the first place... but ultimately, what held his attention was Z8. Against every one of his expectations, she'd been the first to strike a critical blow, and that... that left him with a strange new feeling in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't dread, per se, nor did it seem like fear, or revulsion. In fact, the closest he could approximate it to was probably awe.

Perhaps she really was like him: out to win, at any cost.

I wonder what will become of the body, his inner thoughts chimed cynically, a tense grimace forming on his features. Would it simply be disposed of? Sure, the more sentimental and human competitors might have wished for a burial, but in his mind, such could be a waste of resources. That suit might prove useful, after all, and the weapon... what if their medic had a second weapon?

And oh, what of the horse? In his contemplation, he'd nearly forgotten that giant, fiery steed goading them all towards insanity. Was it finally satisfied enough to relinquish its prize?

A7 winced as Z5 curled over A5's body, hearing the man's voice crack as he started to lose it. It wasn't easy, watching someone die - but it was even harder watching someone break over it. A7 wasn't planning on coming anywhere near the body, if only because it wasn't right. A5 had died so that they could live - he'd said it himself. They voted, all of them. With their weapons.

They voted, just like A5 had wanted. Just like Fiver had wanted.

Just.. not the outcome he'd wanted.

A7 turned around, scooped the unconscious girl into his arms, and walked a few steps away from the scene. He knew what he'd want if he had been the one to have to die for the rest. He would have wanted a proper burial, and some kind of remembrance that he was there.

When that damn dragon went away, that was exactly what A7 planned to do. Fiver wouldn't be forgotten.

A7 pulled the girl close against him, and sighed.

Alpha Eleven nodded as Alpha Nine gave the small recap. It was just...why? Why did they turn on each other? She'd thought they'd decided it was in their best interests to stick together. ...

She was almost startled when Alpha Nine stuck her hand out. "Yes. Yes, I will agree to that. No attacking each other." She nodded, accepting the hand and giving it a shake. A-Nine was right. It was too much to worry about, if your own team would attack you.

That was when it happened. A-Five fell. A-Eleven gasped. "He's..." She couldn't bring herself to say it. That was it, it was over.

She swallowed, and felt like she wanted to cry. She didn't even know him, yet...she was sad. This was not what she'd signed up for, was it? To watch those around her die? In the pit of her stomach she felt sick.

She watched as the Zeta team member started to shout. Her heart ached for them, but even as she felt sorry for their pain, she felt herself growing numb. This seemed senseless.

She turned back to A-Nine. "Crazy, aint it?" A-Nine had got it right the first time she said it.