"Who are we?" Thirteen cocked his head to one side, raising his eyebrow ever so slightly at the question. "That's strange, I don't recall there being another one of me."

"I am only a servant of the system, an overseer for all of you poor souls who thirst for the blood of others. My task is to entertain the audience, and to herd you sheep to glory. Do you understand now? This tournament is what all of you have been wishing for!"

He finished, spreading his arms magnanimously, nevermind the fact that he had chosen everyone on random. Gods know he wouldn't be telling these fools how stupid he had been.

"As for how I can help...that depends on what you ask for. There is no free lunch in this world. Use your head, which is more than I can say for our dearly departed Bust.."

Servant of the System, Bl.An.C. thought. A strong possibility then.

"Statement: As I recall, the system does not forcefully admit a gladiator," the armored scientist replied. "...this is not a System sanctioned tournament is it?"

The plasma gun heated up powerfully. Strike one.

Light from the gun's charge glowed against the beast's body, its visible side left slightly paralyzed from the light, though the other side started to thrive. Elbows of its back cracked, working from the top down. Its head twitched.

"Uh...a-android?" Venox squeaked, crouching against the ground. "A-are you s-sure you're making the right choice?"

"Th-this is one of the H-hosts here...r-right? Consider that...since he's k-kind of more powerful than us...shouldn't we at least th-think about what h-help he'd give us?"

"If you don't want help...w-would killing this, uh, Host, fix anything?"

Venox was silent for a few moments, and then he spoke again.

"Thirteen...if you r-really d-do belong to a...system, it c-could mean there's a p-possibility of y-your leaders thinking you're e-expendable? You've been the only one we've seen...s-so far. They're probably getting bored of us and want a...change..."

Venox cast a quick glance at Handyman. The beast was reviving. The next event might decide all their fates.

"Statement: There is no right choice, Venox. He already said he won't help us," he said. "The only way out is through his tournament."

Thirteen grimaced. There was it again. Another reminder that even if he went through with this entire tournament, they would still be a laughing stock. And as much as he had attempted to deflect accusations earlier, it was indeed his issue to have failed to include more. He had planned to instill some drama, but even then none of the two were particularly receptive. What else, then, was there to do?

"Well, it seems negotiations have fallen apart, boys," he shrugged, "do your best; riches and glory await, that I shall promise."

He waved his hand to bid goodbye, closing his eyes briefly before opening them once more.

Except he was still in the world.

"..Blast." He muttered, waving his arm a few more times not unlike a broken puppet, but nothing seemed to happen. Sweat dripped from behind his neck; he was in trouble.

"Seventeen! You promised-!"

There was no response. He was alone. trapped with three gladiators with no way out.

The atmosphere was awkward. Light flickered from Bl.An.C's gun, softly illuminating the faces of people around it, including-

Snap.

The beast's face, riddled with tingles, stared directly at Thirteen. Its body shuddered in anticipation, a hollow hunger throughout every finger and arm, within every joint and knuckle. Its feet were still stuck to the ground, the only feeling in its legs being a flood of pins and needles that tingled down its thighs. Yet its upper body was free, and it was moving.

It raised its arm in a reckless motion, throwing it off balance. It caught the ground with its other hand so it kept steady. The raised hand clenched into a fist and hurtled towards the mysterious host.

For now, at least, the predator will take the place of prey.

Bl.An.C. was surprised at the alacrity the beast managed to use. Or rather the sudden movement it made. The armored scientist sidestepped away and allowed the fist to soar.

"Statement: It seems I am not the only one who harbors hatred for you, Thirteen."

Venox tensed. He now realized that Handyman was more of a danger to them than Thirteen. If it kept getting hunger spikes around them…how safe would their future existence be?

But he wouldn’t be able to do it alone. What if he got the android to help? With silent wings, he flew over to the robot.

“H-hey…could you h-hear me out f-for a little?” Venox whispered. “Don’t y-you think th-the finger beast might be a little…uh, more d-dangerous than Thirteen? He is…after all, stuck here w-with us now. I-I don’t w-want anyone else t-to…die, b-but I feel like I c-can’t do anything to s-stop this. It’s your choice…I-I mean you d-do have the nice big weapon, y-you know.”

He then shot back to his previous position, eyes glued to Thirteen. There was only one thing he saw on the Host’s face. Fear. For a few moments, Venox felt like he was watching himself. How many times had he been in such a position? He couldn’t bring himself to count them all.

Handyman got very close to Thirteen, and Venox felt his wings spreading, tensed for flight. What was he doing??? Was he really thinking of trying to save the human that he’d had so much trouble with in this competition???

His eyes locked on to Handyman. Before…he’d thought of this beast as a friend, but now it was all too obvious how dangerous it really was. His foot spikes slid out, and his fear vanished. He felt no emotion, and a single thought pulsed through his mind.

Is this really me?

"Statement: The monster goes idle once it had its fill correct? Project the image of food onto Thirteen and we have an ally. We do not need to be a friend to the beast but just help it enough to consume Thirteen's mind," Bl.An.C. said.

What am I saying? I am condoning murder... he thought. No, its for the good. What he said was near proof he worked for John... but was it conclusive?

The fist landed, just inches away from the host. A normal person would have thought handyman had missed; the more observant would have noticed him shifting away with almost blinding speed.

Afraid? No, he was not afraid. Thirteen was every bit prepared to die at any circumstance, as were his predecessors and colleagues, but it irked him that he might perish in such a pathetic circumstance, and without truly knowing what was happening. Had the artifact malfunctioned, or was Seventeen truly betraying him? He needed to know, and the gods may damn themselves if he were to let himself fall before that.

"Project the image of food?" He gave a brief laugh. "Handyman is barely sentient, and even if I fall to it, you will be next. However..."

He unbuttoned his cuffs and assumed a combat stance. "...know if I am gone, any hope of leaving this place together alive is null and void. Make your choice."

He hated negotiating, especially to those he considered beneath him. Rather, he would have liked to tear into the flesh of each and one of the gladiators. But logic triumphed his bloodlust; he could not refuse a greater chance of escaping if it meant withholding his fists.

"Query: Then why aren't you leaving us to fight then? You have the capability to leave don't you?"

Bl.An.C.'s audio sensors picked up Thirteen's previous curse and he assumed the worst possible situation for a person with such a high ego.

"Observation: But you can't? Perhaps this is why you're willing to fight. Earlier you seemed comfortable, easy going as if you were always safe from us but now you seem distressed, agitated a bit and even willing to do combat."

"An ally?" Venox held back a laugh. "Thirteen is right! The f-finger beast will feed on him and then what? I-it g-gets hungry again and then w-we're next!"

The bat flew over to Thirteen, hovering just behind his right shoulder.

"H-he just got betrayed by the other H-host or Hosts. He's one of us now, android. W-we will all die once this c-competition is over. I-if w-we let the beast live, it will kill us all, and it w-will win...s-somehow."

Venox then lowered his head and his next words were soft.

"I-if you all want advice on how to hurt it badly, aim for its teeth...a-and keep the light strong. I-it d-doesn't like light..."

Heat built in Venox's throat, and Dark smoke began to swirl from his back. His Darkwing appeared and cocked its head at the finger beast. It knew what it had to do...if needed.

##Waffles, here's how Venox knew...

## Wait a second Cass, when did Venox ever learn that Handy's teeth are sensitive? You're not metagaming are you?

The creature cared not that his first fist missed, as several more followed behind. Knuckles slammed into the earth before their fingers tore out and clutched into the hazy ground, and more upon more arms followed suit all around the beast. A humanoid form was too much effort to keep, so it let itself mutate and deform into a belligerent behemoth. But, due to its body still being affected by a sluggish, sleepy state, the transformation was slow. Black skin bubbled and knuckles crack as arms emerged from its writhing back.

It was very clear this thing had become a threat, though it stalled as its stagnant mind tried to set its primal priorities: Which one should it go for? That one? Or that one? Maybe them all? All it cared for right now was to put up a threatening display, to radiate horror, to ensnare with fear before it lunged.

Bl.An.C. watched as Handyman grew in size and overall simple complexity. A lattice of arms like that that does not even touch itself as they move is astounding, they're all controlled by one mind and the arms move fluidly despite their current sluggishness.

But marveling had to wait. The pseudo android decided to back away and keep his plasma gun trained on both Thirteen and Handyman, his weapon jumping from both. He couldn't decide who was the bigger threat now but he knew he wanted Thirteen down for the count.

Visions of a blasted and craterized city flashes before his eyes, something rose from his gut; a compelling fear of the inevitable destruction of everything if he were to fail. He gasped for air as he came out of his vision. He knew this was some sort of aura the beast emanated naturally but he couldn't help but succumb to it.

Despite his strong will, once its broken it takes longer to rebuild.